Team CMSN
by Miasushi
Summary: 4 teenagers eagerly attend Beacon Academy in hopes of becoming huntresses and huntsman. They learn how to bond with each other, how to use teamwork, and much more about the world and the people surrounding them.
1. Sapphire

Sapphire touched her hand lightly to the window in front of her. The temperature outside was much lower, causing the glass to feel cool and firm under her fingers. She stared out at the dark shadow of a city below her.

"I can see Signal from here!" she mused. Sapphire looked out at the shadowy shapes of hills and valleys. "I guess home is farther away than I thought," she said as she recalled her uncle describing his 'long, long, never-ending trip to Signal'. She looked at the amazing view. The sky was filled with clouds, shaded with different blues, grays, silvers, and whites. Some floated past her window, slightly fogging it. The appearance of large hills was misty and faded, looming in the distance, dark and dull green.

She sighed and walked away from the window. She looked around at everyone and everything around her. It was nearly the same as the hour before, only, the small groups of walking and talking people had changed into other groups of people.

She walked over to a corner and sat down next to a dark blue duffle bag with black spray-paint markings that spelled, S.M.L. Sapphire wished that this long trip would just end. It wasn't that she was bored or airsick, but that she was eager to get to Beacon. She had waited so long for this trip, and now it was here. A tickly feeling of excitement bubbled in her stomach and made her arms and legs feel light. She hugged her arms around her body with eagerness. So much to look forward to! She would get to train with other people her level, fight real enemies, learn so much more, and be on a real team! Maybe she would get to be the leader like her big sister, Misty.

Misty had gone to Vacuo Academy 2 years ago and had become the leader of team M.A.C.E. Sapphire always wanted to be just like her older sister, skilled and ready for anything.

"I can't believe we're almost there!" a girl with short blond hair squealed next to her. Relief flooded into Sapphire at the good news.

"How much longer?" Sapphire asked her. The girl gave her a disapproving look and turned her chin up in a snooty way.

"Like, twenty minutes or something, I think," she sniffed haughtily before walking away and muttering something about eavesdroppers. Sapphire felt a spike of anger. Why did she call her an eavesdropper? The girl had shouted the fact loud and clear right next to her. Anyone could've heard it. And she had asked nicely, with a polite tone. Sapphire felt like standing up and shouting at her to apologize, but swallow the urge. It wouldn't do much, anyway. The girl probably wouldn't even mean it, if she did apologize.

Sapphire forgot the girl and moved on to a different subject. Maybe she could bond with someone and make new friends. She was all on her own now, anyway. Why not? Her parents were now far away, back in Vacuo, and as far as she knew, she didn't know anyone on this ship. Some girl with the very light aqua hair and the light purple eyes flirting with some tall guy near one of the windows looked a little familiar, but she couldn't tell enough to be sure.

She unzipped her bag and after rummaging through it awhile, pulled out a leather strap of some sort. She put it on around her waist like a belt and then pulled from her bag a silver metal boomerang. A long slit was along its edge and there were several lines and screw marks on its surface. A light purple piece of cloth was tied tightly to the middle. Sapphire lightly touched it and closed her eyes.

"For you, Uncle," she said softly. Sapphire had been seeking her uncle's approval for many years now. She couldn't wait to show him what he had taught her at the Vytal Festival's tournament. She wanted him to be proud of his 'Little Apprentice', but her heart sank as she remembered that the tournament was in several months. That was in a long time. She'd be more experienced by then. She knew that he'd be watching the tournament and she couldn't wait.

Sapphire fastened her boomerang into her belt and then checked to make sure she could lift it out quickly without too much resistance. She couldn't wait to show off her weapon to her future team and the teachers in Beacon, and to see other people's weapons. It seemed every huntsman and huntress had a creative, hand-crafted weapon, usually versatile.

_At least my weapon is creative and versatile, _she thought to herself with admiration, _I think my combination is pretty good. _She smiled as she thought of her weapon. By clicking the button on the side near where your fingers go, the boomerang would transform into a metal bow. Then the quiver strapped to her back contained her custom-made, dust-infused arrows. And a trigger could transform her bow into a blade, as well as a small pistol, though, she never really used that version of it. She patted her weapon and smiled, satisfied.

Sapphire picked up the sounds of electric voices around the corner coming from the TV. It had been on ever since she had boarded this ship and a small group of teenagers was always crowded around the thing as it drawled on about robbed shops, new buildings, and fires, not much of an interest to Sapphire. She zipped up her bag, picked it up, and then walked around the corner. While she walked passed the TV, she glanced at the screen. Through the group of people, she saw a news lady talking about a criminal, some guy named Roman Torchwick, who had recently led a robbery in a dust shop.

"Just the reason I'm going into this school," Sapphire muttered to herself as she began to walk forward again. Just as she was about to past the TV, the screen flickered and then the news station disappeared. In its place was a woman that appeared like a colored hologram. She wore a white long-sleeve shirt. The top half was white with a hole just above her bosom, and the bottom half was black with golden buttons leading down into a short skirt. A deep purple cape hung from her shoulders.

"Hello and welcome to Beacon," she began, "My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among the privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future huntsman and huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task. And now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." And with that, she disappeared from the screen and the TV remained blank.

Several of the teenagers around began to cheer and talk excitedly to one another. Sapphire cheered and smiled with glee. Now it was even more exciting! She wanted to share her joy with someone else, but decided to keep it to herself. She didn't want anyone to think she was weird.

Suddenly, she felt someone's hands on her shoulders. She jumped with a start at the sudden touch and spun around. The girl with the light aqua hair and the light purple eyes was there again. She shook Sapphire wildly and jumped around at the same time, squealing excitedly.

"I can't believe we're almost there! Can you believe it?! Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! Ohmygooooooossh!" she screamed, even louder now. She then let go of Sapphire and bolted off in the opposite direction giggling and laughing. Sapphire was both surprised and glad that she had done that. She lightly massaged her right shoulder and watched the girl disappear behind the corner, a rather large hilt of a sword strapped to the girl's back.

Just then, her stomach began to lightly drop and she felt her ears start to ache and ring. She hurried to the window and pressed herself eagerly against the glass. The ground was getting closer and the clouds were no longer floating past her window or in equal height with the ship. She heard the sounds of several feet walking past and swung around, her hair flying around her and falling in her face. She brushed it out of her eyes and saw several of the teenagers walking all together towards the exit. She quickly ran over and joined the group. A nervous, ticklish wave passed through her, making her arms and legs feel weak, but at the same time, energetic. They were here! Soon enough, everyone was crowded by the exit. For a moment there was only the sounds of the eager whispers and murmurs of everyone and the motor of the ship slowly stopping. Then there was a loud noise and then the ship stopped. The exit suddenly began to open, bright light shining through the opening. Sapphire lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the bright light, but then lowered it. Then she saw it, right in front of her.

A long stone pathway with light poles and iron poles with red and light blue flags hanging of it on the sides led to what almost looked like a castle. Sapphire gasped at the amazing structure. This majestic place was where she would be training and learning for the next four years. And then she would graduate and fulfill her dream of being a true huntress! She squeezed the handle of her bag until her knuckles turned white. She was in Beacon! She began to walk down the large, white metal platform that led to the stone path. The sun was shining brightly in the blue sky, marked with an occasional white cloud. Surrounding the path was green grass, nicely trimmed, a few tall trees, some bushes and then, on either side of the school was a large pond. Sapphire marveled the beautifully detailed architecture and wondered how much money and time it had taken to build this place.

As she walked on, she saw the other people had already began to enter some sort of a wall with an entrance. She quickly followed a group of giggly girls who were entering the same entrance. Inside was what seemed like a courtyard. A large stage was at the front with a microphone on a stand in the center and the sky was directly above. On both sides of the room, a crowd of people stood talking with each other or standing idly looking around at everything. Several others were entering the room and joining the crowd, or standing by the entrance.

Sapphire was so excited. She felt like the time where she had gone to a summer camp when she was younger and had been left alone to sign in and get situated. She remembered bumping into a girl her age and making friends with her. She never knew her name because the girl had never told her, but the girl had told her to call her SAM. Maybe her name was Samantha or something like that. Or maybe it was her initials. Maybe she didn't have a name. She had seemed lonely, being so quiet and shy and afraid to say anything that might reveal any information about her past. Sapphire remembered her long auburn hair and glittering red eyes, but most of all, her soft, pretty voice and gentle smile. She had never seen SAM again after that. When they were going to leave the camp, SAM had sung a beautiful song about Sapphire and their friendship and then, she left. Sapphire hadn't paid much attention to the sad words she had used in her song, and instead simply listened to the happy ones about her and SAM. She couldn't remember the words or the tune of the song anymore, but she could almost hear it at the same time.

The sound of someone clearing their throat shattered Sapphires thoughts and jerked her mind back to the present. She noticed that a man wearing a black vest with golden buttons going down the front and a large green scarf with a silver crucifix pinned to it was standing in the center of the stage by the microphone. His hair was gray and his eyes were a light brown. A pair of dark spectacles was on his face. The same woman who had appeared on the TV screen in the ship was standing behind him.

_That must be Professor Ozpin! _Sapphire thought wildly.

"I'll...keep this brief," he said as he pushed his spectacles up before continuing.

"You have traveled here today in search of knowledge," he began, "To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction."

_Wasted energy? _Sapphire wondered to herself.

"You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." Then he walked away, a dark gray cane with a light gray handle making a slight tapping noise with every step that he took. The woman, or Glynda Goodwitch, took his place.

"You will gather at the ballroom tonight," she said. The fact that they had a ballroom was making Sapphire even more eager about this place.

"Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed!" she said and then walked quietly off the stage into the same place that the other man, the professor, had disappeared to.

Everyone began to talk at once and Sapphire tried to understand what the professor had meant by, 'wasted energy in need of purpose', or whatever. But she didn't care right now. She had to get things situated.


	2. Night at Beacon

Sapphire spread her thick patch quilt onto one of the mats provided as a mattress. The ballroom really was big. Huge glass windows with several panes and bright red curtains were all around the room. Between each window was a large candle that provided a glowing, golden light that made the whole room feel warm and cozy. The walls and floor were made of polished wood and several mats and blankets lay scattered on the floor for everyone to lay out and settle on for the night. Sapphire had brought her own quilt, made specially by her mother, and her own pillow. She dragged her bag next to her mat and opened it up, pulling out a black notebook. She unwrapped the black ink pen strapped to the side of the notebook with a piece of fishing string and opened up to a blank page. She clicked the pen open and began to doodle herself and a few other miscellaneous things. Then she began to write:

Darlene felt a torrent of tears pouring down her face like rain. The dark gloomy darkness yawned in front of her and the moon sadly shed its dull light into the dim, forsaken forest. The last, dying shred of hope that she had buried down, deep inside her sorrowful, overwhelmed heart, had flickered out like a tiny, weak flame.

"Oh, Tristin," she wept, her voice like a calming storm, "Why? Why did you have to leave me?" She cried out with an agonized moan, the sound shattering the silent, mournful night. Several wolves, lost and left alone to die in the bleak, starved wilderness, answered her woeful cry with many sorrowful whales, echoing through the empty, starry sky.

_Wait, what? _She said to herself, biting the tip of her pen and scanning over her careless work. _Did I misspell wail? And I'm being too dramatic. And descriptive. This makes no sense. _She flipped to a different page and began to write again.

"Harleigh, come. We must run away together." Weston's smooth voice seemed to speak to Harleigh's very heart and she felt her face growing hot and happy.

"Oh, Weston," she cried, wooed and charmed by his very presence, "Let's! We must go to the Northern River and start a family. Our love will reside with each other through a thousand raging storms."

Her soft, flaxen hair blew wildly in the lovely, romantic wind like a river of blood.

After writing that, she stopped and flipped through her notebook, scanning some of the short stories and songs she had written, and giggling over a small picture or note that Misty had left a long time ago before she had left.

Things were getting quieter in the ballroom now, most of the mats were occupied and several of the candles had been blown out, making the room much dimmer. Only a few whispers and murmurs were going around the room. Sapphire pulled back her quilt, laid down, and pulled it over herself, nestling deep into her pillow. She was just starting to doze off when a loud yell startled her and jerked her awake.

"Hey!" a feminine voice yelled angrily from across the room,

"Get your face off of my feet, Abs!"

"Well, get your feet out of my face, 'Sweetheart!'" an angry man yelled in the same direction. A disturbed grunt from the girl followed his yell and then she muttered,

"Why flirt with a guy who doesn't care for a little perfume to ease his sleep?"

And then she was quiet. Sapphire tried to fall asleep again, but the scratching sounds of someone's fingernails on a mat and the soft sounds of blankets moving kept her alert. Why was she so tense all of a sudden? Just then, she heard a loud, "HEEEEYYYY!" and saw a dark shadow of a girl, the same girl who had yelled earlier, fly across the room and land with a loud thud not far from Sapphire. Shouts of protest and anger filled the air and a candle was lit. The soft light of the candle revealed the girl. It was the girl with the light aqua hair and the light purple eyes staring right at her with a frown on her face. With a bit of shock, Sapphire realized that the girl was wearing _sleepers! _Like the kind babies wore. It was light purple with white polka dots all over it, and it was _very _tight, showing off every curve and bump on her body. Disturbingly enough, in the center of her bosom were the words FOCUS, in fuzzy white letters.

The girl flicked her short ponytail with her hand and twisted it around her left index finger, sniffed haughtily and then stood up. A girl behind her sat up and shoved the girl forward and muttered a curse under her breath. The girl with the light aqua hair and the light purple eyes stumbled forward and looked behind her back angrily.

"Woah, whoah, chillax," she said putting her hands up for peace before walking forward. As she passed Sapphire, she glanced at her, but then stopped and stared at her. Sapphire heard the soft footsteps stop in front of her and cautiously opened one of her eyes and saw the girl staring at her. Sapphire looked at her with an irritated look and brushed aside a lock of hair in her face.

"Can I help you?" she asked. The girl simply kept scanning Sapphire's face and then began walking away again. But her head was still turned in her direction and she held out a finger saying, "Have we met?" Sapphire didn't answer at first. What was she supposed to say? She did have a strange feeling that they had met somewhere before, but couldn't recall any memories of her. She turned to face her, but she was already settled down on a mat, a blanket wrapped around her like a cocoon, her eyes closed, and her lips silently moving. Sapphire wanted to walk over to her and asked her what her name was and get to know her, but knew she'd be sleeping any time now and that it was dark. Then, the candle that had been previously lit was blown out by someone behind her, followed with a gruff,

"Goodnight."

*. *. *. *. *

When Sapphire woke up then next morning, sunlight was streaming through the window in soft light rays. The whole room was bright with the morning light and the sweet song of birds chirping outside added another nice morning touch. She sat up and stretched, letting her quilt slide off of her body and cover her legs. She looked around at the others. Most of them were sleeping, but a few were up, most of which were reading or writing on paper or in a notebook. Two or three were walking out of the room to the bathrooms they had passed earlier on the outside of the ballroom just across the hall carrying their bags with them and whispering quietly.

Sapphire sat up, folded her quilt messily, stuffed it into her bag with her pillow, stood up, and then walked out of the ballroom and entered the bathroom. The walls were white tiles and white sinks were bolted to the wall. She walked into a stall, changed into her clothes, brushed her teeth, and then began to brush her long blue hair with a rather large brush. She looked at herself in the mirror and approved of her appearance. She looked good and normal; just what she wanted. Part of her complemented her bright blue eyes, rosy cheeks and pearly white smile, and she gave into the hope that someone here would take an interest in her beauty, as well as her personality. Then she walked out of the bathroom and back into the ballroom. More people were up now, including the girl with the light aqua hair and light purple eyes, who was stretching in certain poses when a boy walked past. She made odd stretching sounds as she stretched. The girl stood up, stuffed everything except the mat she had been sleeping on messily into her gray suitcase, forced it closed, and then stood up with a strange opera tone, and then skipped off towards the door by Sapphire, flicking the top of Sapphire's head with her hand as she passed and disappeared into the bathroom. The dark purple headband in Sapphire's head fell off after she had done that and landed on the floor at her feet. Sapphire scowled in the girl's direction and put the headband back on her head, more tightly and securely than before.

* * *. *. *

Later that day, Glynda Goodwitch had assigned special lockers to everyone to keep their weapons in. Everyone was given a small keypad and told that typing in a certain four digit code would send the locker where you were or were the code commanded. Sapphire was amazed at all of the high-tech things they had here. She couldn't wait to start training.


	3. Initiation

Everyone was summoned to the edge of Beacon. It was a large cliffside that towered over the Emerald Forest. Sapphire was somewhat afraid of standing on cliffs that stood a high distance above a huge forest, but didn't show her nervousness or fear. On the edge were several small, rectangular gray plates on the ground with Beacon's crest on it all in a row. Everyone was told to stand on one, formatting everyone into a strait line. Sapphire stood on one and held her breath. She had a bad feeling that something frightening was going to happen. Large hills loomed in the distance, a closer one more visible than the one behind it, almost see-through. Professor Ozpin, who was holding a white Beacon mug containing tea or coffee in his hand, and Glynda were standing on the edge. Glynda was holding a tablet of some sort and looking at it, swiping her finger across it once and a while and glancing at the row of students. Sapphire looked at the stone plate she was standing on and swallowed nervously. Professor Ozpin walked closer to the group and pushed up his spectacles again.

"For years you have trained to become warriors. And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." he began. Glynda continued immediately after he finished his sentence.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion," she said "Each of you will be given teammates..." she paused and stared hard at the group.

"Today," she finished with a serious tone. Ozpin continued.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So itis in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said," he lifted his hand with the tea a little higher, "the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be you partner for the next four years."

Sapphire smiled. Though it meant she could possibly be paired with the most annoying person in the world, she had to admit it was a pretty slick rule. She had never thought about that. For some reason, she had the urge to laugh or giggle, she was unsure why, but she didn't. Ozpin continued,

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you _will _die."

Sapphire nodded. Though unsure of what kind of opposition she would face or who she would be partnered with, she was going to be ready. Nervousness and excitement bubbled in her stomach. She would get a partner today. A team. A small part of her hoped that her teammate would be a boy, tall and strong, and hopefully handsome, but she pushed the thought away, knowing how foolish the thought was.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiating. But our instructors will not intervene," Glynda said, looking at her device again.

Sapphire felt relief. If she got in some sticky situation, she didn't want the embarrassment of having a teacher have to come and help her out. A prideful feeling assured her that she wouldn't need any help.

"You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" he finished. Then, only a moment after he asked, he replied to the silence. "Good! Now, take your positions."

Sapphire pulled her boomerang out from her belt, feeling some sort of satisfaction at the cool metallic feel of the solid metal on her fingers. She spread herself out and took a deep breath. Sliding her left foot forward and stretching out her arms she readied herself for what lay ahead. The girl standing next to her gritted her teeth and looked tense. Something underneath the gray plate she was standing on cranked and clicked. The girl next to her was suddenly shot into the air like a canon, fading from view as her distance from the cliff increased by the second. Then, she felt the plate under her go up and spring her with tremendous force into the air. Alarm and excitement flooded into her at the suddenness.

The wind blew in her face, wiping her long hair back and causing her skirt and shirt to waver wildly from the speed. She wasn't falling quit yet, but flying through the air. At first she panicked, but then she gathered her mind and prepared herself. She spread her arms out and straightened into a horizontal position, granting some control to her circumstance.

Another person, soaring close by her was flipping terribly fast, seeming uncontrollably. Her long black hair was wiping in the wind all around her. Her face wasn't panicked, but rather controlled. She pulled out a chain of some sort covered in spikes and then she pulled something like a little lever from her boots, inserted some sort of tiny, deep pink crystal into a small slot, locked some metal guard over it, and pushed it back into her boot all in one swift motion. The bottoms of her boots glowed deep magenta for a moment, and then suddenly boosted the girl forward, leaving behind a translucent magenta shock wave that rippled in the air and then faded away after a moment. The girl disappeared from view as she dived into the cluster of trees, causing several leaves to free from their branches and flutter around before settling back onto the treetops.

The wind was roaring in Sapphire's ears so loud she could hardly hear her nervous hums that came automatically from her lips as she began to fall. The tickly, terrifying feeling of her stomach dropping filled her as she fell. She dreaded the feeling and she almost thought for a moment she was back on that dreadful roller coaster she was forced by Misty to ride on a long time ago, screeching as the car fell mercilessly down the track.

The ground was coming closer and she could now see the trees in more detail; the branches, leaves, and even bits of the forest floor. Sapphire gripped her boomerang more tightly and slowly slid her finger down the side of it to the button on the side, grinning with satisfaction as she watched in extend smoothly into its bow shape in front of her. She spotted a taller, thicker tree above the others and reached back to her quiver. She grabbed an arrow, smooth and firm in her hand from the back of it. She positioned it on her bow and drew the string back, aiming at a thick, sturdy limb near the top of the tree. She glanced at the arrow a moment before she shot it, making sure it was brown and that the thick rope attached to the back of it was there. Then, she let the string go, watching it shoot through the air with a whistling noise as it gathered momentum and embed perfectly into the tree branch with a fair depth. The rope coming from the end of it was now on the bow, fastened tightly to the end. Sapphire, holding onto the bow with one hand, grasped it with her other hand tightly, allowing her weight to lean entirely on the bow. She swung from the rope in the branch, around and around until she was getting dizzy. Her boots were dangerously close to the tops of the other trees, ensuring pain if she went any lower. Sapphire glanced at her surroundings, searching for a good branch to land on. She spotted one not far from the left side of the tree she was swinging around. She lifted her index finger to a trigger just above the spot where the rope from the arrow was and slid it down. There was a tiny sharp blade, like a cheese cutter, on the trigger that sliced easily through the thick rope, causing her to part from her rope and arrow, and leaving the long rope dangling from the arrow in the tree, swaying slightly from the force departing it. Sapphire fell for a moment, and then put her self feet-first. She had clicked the button again and her bow had turned back into a boomerang. She lifted her hand with the boomerang high up, causing her boomerang to hook onto a branch a little higher than her, jerking her arm and her body upward a little before she was dangling from the branch by her boomerang. Things were much easier, now that she wasn't falling anymore. She swung from the branch, unhooking the boomerang from the branch and allowing her to fall. She landed easily onto another branch and jumped onto another limb, lower, continuing until she landed onto the ground on her feet.

She took a deep breath and smiled. That wasn't too hard. She brushed herself off with her arms to get rid of the leaves that had made their way onto her clothes. She looked at the forest around her. It was like any other forest; green, quiet and full of trees.

_I'm landed! It's time to get my partner! _Sapphire thought eagerly as she began walking forward. _Soon enough. _


	4. Crystal

A few birds chirping nearby had let out a loud, shrill chirp and then flew quickly away, their wings fluttering as they escaped through the trees. Sapphire tensed and turned around, her foot scraping the dirt and leaving a slight mark. She suddenly heard a low growl and heavy steps. Twigs branching, leaves rustling, and more growling. Then it was silent for a moment. Dead silence.

Suddenly, an ear-splitting roar filled the air followed with a loud, high-pitched squeal.

Sapphire raced from where she was standing and bust out into a small clearing. There was a loud boom and a small cloud of birds flew across the sky above her. She heard more yells, feminine, girly yells. Fighting noises and something whacking something. Sapphire cautiously stepped closer to the commotion. The din had settled some and the only thing heard of it now was some grunts and stabbing sounds.

_There's someone else here! _she said to herself. Now was her chance to get a partner! Her heart sunk slightly as she knew by the voice of the person behind the trees was a girl and not a strong and handsome boy.

_Maybe I could run off in the other direction and run into someone else, _she said to herself, but decided otherwise. She would get a partner. Now. She began to walk tentatively towards the spot where she had heard the commotion. Staring at her feet as she walked; boomerang in one hand; moving other branches with the other, she walked on; closer and closer to where her future partner was standing, unless she had already found someone, but it had only seemed like there was one person. She stopped when she heard footsteps approaching her. There was a surprised gasp and then Sapphire was aware that the girl was looking at her. Not making eye contact, but staring at her. Sapphire could see a pair of light purple boots.

"Should I look up?" Sapphire asked jokingly. The girl giggled and then shook her head.

"I'd like it if you did," she replied. There was something familiar about the girl's voice, like she had heard it before. Sapphire slowly looked up, scanning the girl in front of her and gasping when she saw who it was. Staring into her light purple eyes was the girl with the light aqua hair, tied tightly into a high ponytail with a light purple hair band.

"What?" The girl asked playfully, seeing her surprise.

"Its just-I-you," Sapphire stammered unsure of what to say.

"Ah…your the girl on the ship…" the girl said smugly, "and in the ballroom…and here in the Emerald Forest…," she made a long pause and then, touching her index finger to her lip as if in thought, "…And my partner for the next four years…and someone in the team I've been waiting for…" She opened her mouth to say something, but then stopped.

"What's your name?" she asked, giving Sapphire a questionable look.

"Sapphire…Sapphire Lante…" Sapphire said awkwardly. The girl gasped and then smiled excitedly. She jumped several times in place and tramped her feet vigorously.

"…And Live in Vacuo in a pale yellow house with white shutters on McIntosh Street!" she squealed. Sapphire's eyes widened.

"How…How did you know that?" she asked, puzzled.

"I'm Crystal! Crystal Minkh! Remember me?!" she screamed as she continued to jump and spin at the same time. For a moment Sapphire's mind was jumbling with questions and confusion. And then something suddenly clicked in her head.

"Crystal?!" she cried, "It is you! I never thought I'd see you again! How did you get into Beacon? I didn't recognize you at first when I saw you! I knew you looked familiar, but I couldn't place a name! And-oh, it's so good to see you again!" Sapphire found herself also jumping and squealing along with Crystal as she poured out her questions and thoughts. Crystal grinned after Sapphire's excited flurry and posed with a haughty lifted chin and an impish grin.

"You bet it is," she said smugly and planted her hand on her hip and tilted to the side. "I hoped you wouldn't forget me. I was wondering the same about you, too." Sapphire and Crystal both smiled and then, without warning Crystal leapt forward and pinned Sapphire down onto the ground with a hug. Sapphire gasped for breath in Crystal's death-grip.

"I missed you so much!" she cried as she shook Sapphire with her arms and hugged her over and over again.

"Family doesn't really forget each other," Sapphire rasped as she tried to return her cousin's hugs and free herself from Crystal's arms, "And it's only been around a year."

Sapphire's aunt's third daughter was Crystal Minkh. Sapphire's family and Crystal's had lived closely to one another's until Sapphire's family moved to a city hours away from Crystal's when they were both about six. Her uncle had decided to grant Sapphire's lifelong wish of being a huntress and train her for the job. And when it was time for Sapphire to graduate her simple combat school and move into one of the four prestigious academies, she had decided to go to Beacon, rather than the one in Vacuo. At first, her parents did not think it was mature or logical that Sapphire wanted to go all the way to Beacon just so that she might possibly go against Misty in the tournament. The chance was pretty slim and it didn't really matter. But Sapphire had insisted, and had also wanted to wear a uniform to school, unlike in Vacuo, where there were no uniforms. So her parents allowed it, only because they knew that it would make her happy and would also let Sapphire make her own choices. So Sapphire had ended up going to Beacon instead of Vacuo and Crystal and Sapphire were parted until now.

"I can't believe we're going to be on a team together for like, forever!" Crystal squealed as she helped Sapphire onto her feet from the ground. Sapphire smiled.

"Same to you," she agreed. "I wonder who else is on our team?" She said as she brushed the dirt off her back and her skirt.

Crystal gave a carefree wave with her hand and rolled her eyes.

"Who cares," Crystal said with a wave of her hand, "I mean, I could totally work as a one-person team without anyone else, as far as I'm concerned. And as long as there's at least _one _boy on the team. But he needs to have some muscle, or he'll be a lost cause for any girl." She began to pace the forest floor. Sapphire rolled her eyes at her cousin's remark and shook her head.

"Crystal, We should want strong, dependable teammates, not handsome show-offs. And everyone needs a teammate, no matter how skilled."

Crystal took no notice of Sapphires remark and pointed her finger upward.

"Oh!" She chimed eagerly, "Maybe he'll have big, hazel eyes that gaze at you with warm love and admiration…" she gave a romantic sigh and stared dreamily ahead at the sky.

"Crystal!" Sapphire yelled angrily, but ceased her anger knowing that it would attract Grimm. Not the most welcome thing, especially now.

"Let's just find the abandoned temple, grab our relics and go, ok?" she asked. Crystal's only reply was to mutter and murmur about her dream boy.

"A neck like the Tower of David…Abs that stick out like boulders on a football field…A voice like a mechanical-raised burbot…" she muttered dreamily. Sapphire, though shocked at her cousin's ambition for a boyfriend, couldn't help but giggle at Crystal's words. She walked forward and grabbed Crystals arm, dragging her forward.

"Wha-hey!" Crystal said angrily. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to find that abandoned temple Professor Ozpin told us about," she replied with a shake of her head and a smile. Crystal freed her arm from Sapphire's and rubbed it angrily.

"Ok, whatever…" she said and followed Sapphire into the trees.


	5. Encounter

The duo walked on, looking through trees and crossed a few streams. While they walked they talked about their homes and families, caught up on the last few years.

"So, did you find out your mom's middle name yet?" Crystal asked somehow remembering Sapphire's curiousness at seemingly _everyone's _middle names. Sapphire grinned and nodded.

"Yes, I actually did. It's Mindy," she answered. Crystal gave a dramatic gasp and put her hand to her chest.

"No way! Opal Mindy Lante…" she said as she thought about the name.

"I could call her Aunt Mindy to tick her off," Crystal joked and giggled at her feeble joke and smiled. "I do like that name, though. Makes me think of minced cheese." She laughed again and added to her already-rude comment.

"Just like her teeth!" She exploded into loud, clamorous laughter. Sapphire only frowned and elbowed Crystal angrily in the ribs ceasing Crystal's rude laughter and replacing it with a little yelp of pain and then angry muttering.

"I like the name as well, Crystal," she said hotly, "It makes me think of fresh mint and creamy mint green paint; quite suitable to her kind and motherly love and personality. Every time I felt guilty, sad or angry, her words and encouragement made me feel fresh and clean, like mint." Crystal looked at Sapphire to see if she was serious, or just joking; but the solemn and serious face of her friend told her she really meant it.

"Sorry…" she said quietly now feeling quite bad about her comment before. Sapphire nodded and nudged Crystal forward with her arm.

"So," Sapphire said cheerfully, changing the subject, "Do you think you'll be team leader or will I?" Crystal brushed aside a tree branch and replied,

"I think I will. I'm most definitely a natural-born leader. My mom said so; of course, that's what any mom would say, but I think it's true. Once, I was walking into an alleyway, and a bunch of thugs were hanging out in there and I said, 'Sup, boyz?', and then they snapped to my attention and followed me right then and there!" She lifted her head proudly and smiled. Sapphire smiled.

"That's because they heard you and started chasing you out of their slum," Sapphire giggled. Crystal frowned.

"Maybe," she snorted. Then she stopped and looked around.

"You know, Sapphy, it's been real quiet lately, hasn't it?" she asked almost worried. Sapphire inhaled deeply in an angry way.

"Don't call me Sapphy!" She said angrily. Then, coincidentally after she had finished her statement, a loud growl sounded, startling the two girls and leaving them clinging onto each other in fear.

"I didn't try to make something come out, I swear!" Crystal yelled. Sapphire let go of Crystal and pulled out her boomerang.

"I know! You can't do that anyway, unless making me mad counts." She looked cautiously around where they were standing, her hair trailing after her head as it looked left and right. Crystal suddenly screamed and pointed a trembling finger a little ways upward. Sapphire followed her finger to find a large Ursa standing on a boulder above them. Sapphire stepped backwards and gritted her teeth. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Crystal take on a look of confidence and stomp her foot. Crystal reached back and pulled out, from a strap on her back, a rather large hilt for a sword. The sides had five different colored squares; red, blue, gray, and light blue. She clicked a button on the side and then a massive silver blade shot out from the hilt. Now Crystal was holding a huge sword and walking forward until she was right next to Sapphire. Sapphire turned her head to Crystal, whose face was eager and determined, and whispered to her,

"You ready?"

Crystal nodded. Sapphire suddenly raced forward and jumped right at the Ursa. The Ursa roared and swung its claws at her. Sapphire jumped up quickly, the blow missed right under her. While still in the air, she turned around and kicked the Ursa as hard as she could, using her aura to amplify her kick, and used it's face as a surface to boost herself forward to a tree and landed perfectly on the branch. It shook it head from side to side from the blow and roared. Crystal, using Sapphire's attack for an opportunity, had run around and to the back of it, her sword held with her two hands. She ran up onto another boulder and jumped while the Ursa was shaking its head from Sapphire's kick. She clicked the blue button on the side and grinned when her blade flashed blue. She jumped as high as she could, heaved her sword directly at the Ursa now right below her with a burst of strength from her aura, laughing as she buried her sword into its head and trailed down from there until it struck the stone underneath it. Spikes of ice jutted up from the rock in a frosty haze and left the Ursa impaled on the spikes with a huge sword implanted in its head. Crystal landed in front of the boulder in a hero-like pose; hands on her hips; breeze blowing her ponytail to the left on the other side of her face. The Grimm in the ice twitched and then began to dissolve into what seemed like black rose petals, leaving only large spikes of ice and Crystals sword, which fell from the boulder and into Crystals open palm.

Crystal laughed heartily and turned around to share her victory with Sapphire, but when she turned to the tree branch Sapphire had been standing on, she was not there. Puzzled, Crystal jumped up onto the boulder the Ursa had been standing on and looked around with her hand on her brow, shielding her eyes from the sunlight glaring in her direction and gasped at the sight.

There were nearly seven Beowolfs circling Sapphire, who was already lodging her boomerang into another Grimm's mouth, twisting it and giving the Grimm a firm kick so it was backed away from her in the process. A Beowolf leaped at her and was soon upon her, biting at her face while Sapphire fought to keep it away. She jammed her boomerang into its mouth and punched it. The boomerang disappeared down the Beowolf's mouth and it roared loudly. Sapphire reached back to her quiver and pulled a flap from it with a button on it. She clicked it and with a large effort slid under the Grimm and kicked one behind it. There was an awful sound as several silver, sharp, rectangular panels ripped through the Beowolf's stomach and chest and then, as if a magnetic force was pulling them together, stuck back together into the shape of a boomerang in midair. It curved backwards and Sapphire caught it with her left hand. As soon as she had caught it, she hurled it at a Beowolf, the sharp edge cutting its jaw and flipping in the air and slicing several other Grimm on its way back to its owner's hand. Sapphire jumped up to dodge a claw aimed at her and side-kicked a Beowolf next to her and caught her weapon in the air as it came over to her. She caught a glimpse of Crystal standing on the boulder close by, still holding her sword.

"A little help here?!" Sapphire howled in Crystal's direction as a Beowolf's claw crashed into a boulder where Sapphire had just been and had moved in order to dodge the blow. Crystal clearly heard her friends call and yelled back,

"I was just getting to that!" She ran and jumped off the boulder, implanting her sword into a Beowolf's shoulder. Then, Crystal turned her head to see a massive claw smash into her with sickening impact. She flew backwards, smacked into a boulder, and slumped down onto the ground. Then, she grinned.

As soon as the Ursa had hit her, she felt a burst of pain where it had hit, followed by a marvelous feeling of strength. Her aura amplifying. She stood up from the ground and held up her sword, eagerness growing as the two Grimm ran towards her.

"Come and get me," Crystal muttered as she spit into the grass and stomped her foot forward.

The two Grimm, closer now, leaped at her, claws extended and mouths open to consume her. Crystal, excited and energized, raced at them herself, sword extended and in her hands. As soon as the Grimm were nearly on her, Crystal swung her sword at them, using a burst of aura, and sliced both of their heads clean off. They disintegrated and vanished, revealing more angry Grimm. Crystal grinned and rooted herself to the ground ready and eager to unleash another attack.

Sapphire sprinted to a tree and ran up the side of it, plunging her boomerang into the side of it when she lost her balance and and thrusting herself upward with the support of her weapon. She landed on a higher branch and jumped up to another one, hanging off of it with her hands. She swung back and forth like a swing until she had a good amount of momentum and made an effort to swing up into the higher branch. She was successful as she flipped twice and landed on her feet onto her branch. Now a good distance up, she loaded a red arrow on her bow and aimed it at a group of Beowolfs running towards Crystal. But she paused when she saw Crystal dash at them and begin wildly slicing them. Crystal got smacked around a bit, but when she did, her aura would visibly flash light purple and she would continue to slice and dice her enemies.

_Is she…absorbing the impact of the blows? _Sapphire wondered curiously, arrow still nocked and glowing orange. _And are the blows…increasing her aura? So she can keep hitting them with her aura? _

After watching Crystal completely destroy one of the raving packs of Grimm, Sapphire confirmed her idea.

"It's gotta be her Semblance," Sapphire said aloud, looking down at the scene below her and deciding where to shoot her arrow, "Whatever it is."

Sapphire saw Crystal glance up into the trees, and catch sight of her. She waved her arms at Sapphire and yelled, pointing to three Grimm snarling over by a nearby tree. Sapphire nodded and carefully aimed her arrow at the three Grimm.

"Just move a little to the right…"

She let go and watched it land directly in the center of the three, exploding in flames. The Grimm howled in agony as the flames licked at their hides. Crystal looked up in sheer pleasure at the burning Grimm, and then saw a glint of silver in the trees from Sapphire's bow. Crystal ran behind the tree and sliced her sword through its trunk, causing it to fall on top of the dying Grimm. Then she ran to the tree that Sapphire was in and plunged her sword into the trunk, jumped onto it like a platform and climbed onto the branch with Sapphire, who was carefully aiming a blue arrow at the chaotic circle of burning tree and Grimm. She let go and the arrow flew into the flaming mess, erupting into a frosty blue haze. There was a loud hiss and smoke began to come out in large, gray billows into the sky from the fallen tree. A cloud of black haze flew from the smoke.

"Nice shot, Sapphy" Crystal said, walking over to her. Sapphire lowered her bow and took a deep breath, exhaling from her mouth and closing her eyes.

"Thanks," she said, transforming her bow into a boomerang again and tucking it into her belt. Crystal nodded and smirked, putting her hand on her hip and tilting her head to one side.

"Aren't _you_ going to say anything?" she asked expectantly.

Sapphire frowned at her and rolled her eyes.

"Well, yeah, actually," she said, walking over to Crystal and glancing around the tree limbs. Crystal stood there in her proud pose, waiting for Sapphire to speak.

"What is your semblance?"

Crystal's haughty face melted into a disappointed frown.

"That's not what I meant," she mumbled, standing straight and turning around. Sapphire shook her head and sighed.

"It is what _I _meant," Sapphire said, sliding down onto a lower branch. Crystal jumped off of the side of the tree and landed onto her sword, still sticking into the trunk of the tree, and then jumped off of that, landing on her feet again.

"Why?" Crystal asked, grabbing her sword out of the trunk, "Did my impossible skills intrigue you and make you think there was something behind them?" She clicked her tongue and shook her head. "Cuz it's just my _raw _skill that sliced and diced those bad boys."

Sapphire landed from another branch and stood up, brushing off her skirt and looking at Crystal.

"No," Sapphire said more seriously, "I mean, how does it work? I saw you flashing purple when you got it hard, and then you kept using aura to hit them really hard. It's like you've got unlimited aura."

Crystal grinned.

"That's a lesson for another time," she said smugly, making her blade go back into its hilt and strapping it to her back again.

"What!" Sapphire said, "Why not?"

"Because," Crystal said, "I want you to see me use it more first. _Before _I explain it."

—

Sapphire stumbled to a stop when Crystal halted suddenly in front of her, standing on a crest of hill that was above something.

"Look!" Crystal shouted and pointed in front of her. Sapphire met up with her and looked out among what was below them. There was a large stone circle with odd markings all around it. There were several stone pedestals in the circle, each holding something. There were some sort of wall remains circling the stone with thick green plants and ivy growing through and in it.

"I think that's it," Crystal said, her ponytail blowing in the breeze behind her with a fews stray strands of hair. Sapphire nodded.

"Let's go!" Crystal yelled as she jumped and slid down the hill leaving behind a trail of dust. Sapphire jumped and landed sliding with her friend, doubling the trail of dust. The two of them landed at the bottom and ran over to the abandoned temple.

Sapphire walked to one of the pedestals. On it was a large chess piece; a black knight piece.

"They're chess pieces," Crystal called to Sapphire from behind.

"I know they are," Sapphire said angrily back and shot her an angry look.

"Ok, ok…chillax," she said as though taken aback. Sapphire grabbed the black knight piece and walked back to Crystal.

"Here," she said handing it to her, "Take it. I think it's one of the relics. We should head back to Beacon Cliff now so we can be graded and stuff." Crystal nodded and took the chess piece. Sapphire ran over to a tree.

"I'll be right back," she called as she jumped onto the nearest branch and climbed up to the top. She stepped tentatively on a thin branch that wobbled and stepped back. She squinted her eyes and stared out. She spotted the big cliff that towered over the forest and jumped down, grabbing onto a branch so she wouldn't hit the ground too hard and then fell from it, landing easily on the ground.

"Crystal, it's up north," she called to her friend, who was petting the top of the chess piece and murmuring odd noises. Crystal snapped to her attention and nodded.

"Alrighty…let's go!" She ran over to Sapphire and skipped with her toward the cliff.


	6. CMSN

Sapphire stood next to Crystal on the large gray stage. The hundreds of people sitting in the audience were clapping and cheering, silhouettes in the bright lights shining down on the stage. Professor Ozpin stood in the center of the stage with a microphone standing in front of him. Above them were several huge screens with four pictures of four students, the first letter of their name a large white letter under their picture. Professor Ozpin had just finished saying their names and saying what their team was called. He put their name is a certain order and made a word. Their team was called Snow, for their initials were S.N.O.W.

A straight line of tall men stood in a row and their pictures came on the screen as Ozpin said their names, his voice booming on the speakers around the auditorium.

"Carmen Cobalt," he began, the tallest man in the group grinning at his name and picture, "Rueben Rouge, Symon Amarillo, and Tyn Verdant," he said, "You chose the black rook pieces. You will be team C.R.S.T.(Crest), lead by…" He glanced at the tallest, most muscular man wearing dark blue and bearing a large club dangling from his belt as he finished his statement.

"Carmen Cobalt. Congratulations, young man." Sapphire saw Carmen grin and give the guy wearing red next to him a rough smack on the back that almost echoed through the auditorium. The boy gasped and bent over, and then scowled at Carmen. Sapphire barely heard him say,

"Quit it, Carmen." But Carmen only laughed heartily and whispered something in the boy wearing a bright yellow flag on his hips on the other side of the boy wearing red.

Crystal gasped and put her hands on her cheeks.

"Oh my gosh!" she squealed, running vigorously in place, "There are strong, handsome, _buff boys. Our _age, too! Look at his muscles! Are those abs?!" she cried and pointed at team C.R.S.T. Sapphire grunted and slapped Crystal's hand down.

"Don't point, Crystal!" she hissed.

Then, team CRESTs pictures disappeared from the screen and Sapphire and Crystal's pictures showed up on it, along with two others who stood next to Sapphire and Crystal: A boy with dirty blond hair and green eyes and a girl with light brown hair and amber eyes. The letters under their names were M, for the girl, and N, for the boy. A bright light shone down on them and Sapphire felt everyone's eyes on her and the other next to her.

_Who are they? _Sapphire wondered as she stared at the two strangers next to her and Crystal. Ozpin continued.

"Crystal Minkh, Sapphire Lante, Mara Gi, and Nathen Verdant. You chose the black knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team C.M.S.N. (Crimson) Lead by Crystal Minkh." He looked at Crystal and then back at the crowd. Crystal squealed and jumped up and down. Sapphire smiled and looked at the two new people next to her. They glanced at her too. The boy nodded and the girl smiled shyly. Everyone clapped and Sapphire beamed, pride and excitement shooting through her. Crystal hugged Sapphire tightly screaming and yelling about how happy she was that she was leader. Although Sapphire wondered why Crystal was leader, she was excited about the fact. She hadn't really cared about being the leader after all. She was just excited that she was on a team and that she had taken another step towards her dream of being a huntress.


	7. The Next Morning

"Wake up!"

The words were screamed in Sapphire's ears before she had even woke up. Her body responded with the sudden noise by tensing and causing Sapphire to spring up into the air at the noise. She screamed and fell hard onto the floor, too stunned to even feel the pain of her fall. She sat up panting and gasping for the breath that had been knocked out of her and trying to gather her mind. Crystal had fallen backwards onto Sapphire's pink blanket and had exploded into an uncontrollable laughter. She kicked her feet in the air and held her stomach as she laughed and snorted. Sapphire jumped up onto her bed, right on top of Crystal.

"You imp!" Sapphire shouted angrily as she hit and slapped Crystal as hard as she could and grabbed a handful of Crystals hair, jerking up along with Crystal's head. Crystal flashed light purple when Sapphire slapped her and then yelled and pried Sapphire's hands off of her head, and then jumped off of her bed. Sapphire, panting and hissing, gave Crystal a cold glare.

Mara, who was sitting in her bed wearing an orange nightgown that went to her knees and writing something in a journal of some sort, was staring at them in confusion, a questioning look in her amber eyes.

Nathen walked out of the bathroom wearing his clothes; a light green t-shirt with a black symbol in the left corner of it, a pair of black gloves that cut at the joints of his fingers, a pair of blue jeans, some heavy dark brown boots with deep red laces tying them tight and the same symbol on his shirt, a leather belt with a silver buckle and a yellow piece of cloth tied to his left arm above his elbow. His hair was wet, messy and darker, too because of the water in it. He took a deep breath and exhaled as he stretched. Sapphire glanced at Mara, who blushing and was watching Nathen's muscles shift and flex under his skin with awe and admiration, giggled. She couldn't help thinking maybe those two would have a thing later, that was, unless Crystal decided to make a jump for him, first.

He walked over to the corner of the room closest to Crystal and reached down for a big deep green bag and pulled out several metal items. Sapphire saw Crystal's head pop up from the floor and stare at Nathen eagerly. But then she frowned, stood up, and then walked over to her own bed, on the right side of Sapphire's and sat down. She leaned over and whispered in Sapphire's ear,

"He's not too handsome. At least for my liking. I didn't see any abs when I saw him this morning."

Sapphire gasped and stared at Crystal in honor.

"And _what_ do you mean by that?!" she snapped, not at all bothering to whisper as Crystal had. Crystal squeaked at Sapphire's loud demand and jumped in her seat. She replied, panicked by Sapphire's question that had caused Mara and Nathen to both stare at the duo.

"Nothing!" she cried, "It's not what you think! I wasn't…ere…_looking_ at Nathen-like, _all_ of him, just when he was shirtless! You know, putting on a new one in the dark?! I didn't think Nathen who mind! After all, he wasn't really _showing _at all!"

"Oh, really," Nathen's deep voice boomed behind Crystal, making her scream and fall of the side of the bed.

"How would you like it if I was watching _you _take _your _shirt off in the dark?" he asked, obviously unhappy, but not angry, standing over her.

"That's different!" she objected, "You guys are different!"

Mara stood up from her bed and stretched as she watched Nathen and Crystal fight about the matter. She walked over to them.

"Guys," she said quietly, "Can you just stop yelling. There are other students in other dorms close by, too and they might be able to hear us. Besides, yelling isn't benefiting any of us right now. We can hear each other just fine." Sapphire, who was directly behind Mara stared rudely at her back in shock. On her back were a folded pair of brown wings. Eagle wings, she was sure.

"You're a Faunus?!" Sapphire cried out suddenly. Mara turned around and smiled shyly.

"I thought you already knew," she said. "I'm sorry you didn't notice before."

"Oh! Sorry," Sapphire said. "That's pretty cool, you know." Mara laughed shyly.

"Well, I find it useful; especially for transportation and landing."

Sapphire grinned. "That how you landed?"

Mara nodded. "Yes. It made things much easier, you know, my weapon not being good for landing in all."

"Nice," Sapphire said with a smile and a shake of her head. "Must be handy."

Behind them, Nathen and Crystal were and arguing. Nathen seemed to have some control of his emotion, though it was undoubtedly fading.

"C'mon, who are you? Not much for being nice to hotties like me?" Crystal asked in an accusing tone.

"What?!" Nathen exploded, unable to keep in his temper any longer. "You're not a hottie! At least to me, anyway. And even if you were, I wouldn't have to be nice to you about something like this!"

Crystal stood up, lifted her chin up stubbornly, and stomped off towards the bathroom, grumbling darkly and glancing angrily in Nathen's direction. She slammed the door loudly and the click of a lock sounded immediately after.

Nathen, Mara, and Sapphire exchanged glances and shrugged.

"So…" Sapphire said. "Um,where are you from, Mara?" Mara thought for a moment and then replied.

"In a village called Spring," she said shyly. "It is on the other side of the Hazel Mountains." She looked down nervously.

"Um, ok," Sapphire said, confused at Mara's nervousness. "How about you, Nathen?"

"I was born in Shade," he began, "but then I moved to Sanctum when I was fourteen. Attended combat school there, blah blah. You know, boring random stuff. And then I came and made it to Beacon. So…um…yeah." He looked at Mara and flushed. Sapphire smiled lightly. Maybe Nathen did like Mara. It was still too early to really tell.

"Well, that's nice. I'm from Vacuo, but I moved to Signal."

A long moment of awkward silence followed and then Nathen sighed.

"Well," he said, wiping his hands on his pants and turning around, "we should get moving. Classes start at nine; currently it is eight twenty-three. Yeah."

Mara nodded and smiled softly, walking toward the kitchen area of their dorm. Sapphire followed and then stopped to change her clothes. A school uniform was to be worn. The boys wore red ties, suit-like tops, and dress pants; the girls wore similar tops, ribbons, and skirts with black leggings and boots. The material was a brownish-maroon color and the ribbon was red, matching the yellow and dark brown plaid skirt with the white fuzz underneath. She eagerly got dressed and examined herself in the mirror. She smiled and admired her appearance. She thought she looked quite nice. When she turned around and headed to the kitchen, she saw Mara was also dressed in her uniform, and well as Nathen.

_Mara looks quite nice in that uniform. _Sapphire said to herself, _And Nathen is actually somewhat handsome. Not that I like him or anything, but more generally. _

Mara was frying eggs in a pan. Steam was rising from the pan in a big white cloud, making the microwave above the stove foggy and wet. The fragrance of eggs and sausage were in the air. Sapphire breathed in the pleasing aroma and smiled.

"You're pretty good at making food, Mara," Sapphire commented as she rummaged for her school supplies in her bag.

"Oh," Mara said flushing, "Thank you. Anyone could cook like this though."

"Don't be so modest," Sapphire said lightly. "Not everyone can. My eggs are always burnt or too salty, if not too bland." Sapphire laughed at her comment.

Mara laughed softly.

"Thank you, Sapphire," she said shyly.

"Your welcome," said Sapphire happily.

_Well, she seems open to friendship, _Sapphire said to herself. _Good score, Sapphire._

Just then, Crystal bounded into the kitchen, her uniform messily on and her hair in a simple ponytail.

"Crystal," Sapphire scolded, "Straighten your ribbon and skirt, fix your hair, and put your boots on the right feet." Crystal frowned.

"Who made you my mom?" she asked stubbornly. Sapphire shook her head.

"No one. I'm just trying to make sure our team leader doesn't look like a total slob."

"I don't need you to tell me what to do!" Crystal said hotly.

"Sorry," Sapphire said unemotionally, "I won't."

Crystal yawned and walked to the stove.

"Hey Margaret," she greeted, "Whatcha makin'?" Mara looked up from her cooking.

"My name's not Margaret. It's Mara," she said quietly.

"Oh," Crystal said, "Well, whatever. What're we having"

"Eggs and sausage with orange juice and hash browns," she replied.

"Oh!" Crystal said excitedly, "Great! Thanks, Mara."

Mara nodded in response. Sapphire saw Nathen walk past. He was holding a pile of books and muttering.

"Hey, Nathen," Sapphire said. Nathen looked up.

"What are you muttering about?" she asked.

"Oh," Nathen said, "My twin brother is supposed to be in the same class as me this morning and he was wondering if he could borrow some of my extra paper for class.

"You have a twin brother," Sapphire asked, "What's his name?"

"Tyn," Nathen answered, looking back down at his supplies.

Just then, Mara called out breakfast. Sapphire saw Crystal dash past and plop down on a chair at the table. Sapphire stood up and walked to the table, sitting down and looking around. Mara had set the table with the food and the plates, silverware and cups. The food looked quite appealing.

"Wow," Sapphire said, "This looks great. Thank you Mara." Mara nodded and blushed at the compliment.

"Yes, Mara. Thanks. It looks delicious," Nathen said grateful as he began to serve the food. He served Mara first, then Sapphire, then Crystal, and then himself.

"Ladies first," he said politely as he served it.

"You bet," Crystal said, her mouth stuffed with hash browns.

Sapphire scowled at Crystal and began to eat.

"So, me and Sapphire are in the same class at nine with Professor Port," Nathen said as he examined his schedule.

"while Mara and Crystal are in Professor Peach's room at nine. At ten-thirty, Sapphire, Crystal, and Mara are in Doctor Oobleck's room while I'm in Professor Peach's room. And, while me and Mara are in…." He continued on about the schedule.

_Hopefully these classes aren't too bad, _Sapphire hoped. _School can be boring. Very, very boring. _

"Hey Sapphy," Crystal said, poking her with her elbow, "When's lunch?"

"Don't call me Sapphy!" Sapphire said angrily, "And weren't you paying attention to Nathen?"

Nathen looked up from his almost finished plate and raised his eyebrow.

"Yeah, Crystal. Do you ever pay attention to anything I say?"

Crystal waved her hand.

"Oh, pshaw," she said and rolled her eyes. "Why would I? All you talk about is boring balderdash, anyway. I have no room for that in my mind."

"Then I'm guessing you don't have anything much in your mind," Nathen replied simply and wiped his hands on a napkin. "Anything _good, _anyway."

Crystal scowled again and crossed her arms. To Sapphire's relief, she didn't comment, but sat there with her mouth shut.

Mara seemed uncomfortable at the moment, probably from the arguments.

"Sorry about Crystal," Sapphire apologized as she and Mara walked across the hallway for class.

"Oh, it's okay," Mara said quickly. "That's just how she is."

"Well," Sapphire began, "She lost her dad a few years ago and got a new one. She didn't really care for him and still misses her real dad. She got kind of carefree after he died; to show she didn't mind too much; that she could go through these kinds of things easily and quickly. So she got into men and looking attractive to that she could feel…you know, special." Mara nodded her head in understanding.

"Thank you for telling me," she said, "But…why is it that…I don't know, you always seem to be…No offense, but, pretty negative at how she asks rather than being kind?"

"Well, I try to show her that she can't act this way forever. Show her that I won't cater to her bad behavior. I talk to her about it sometimes. She really isn't that bad. Just right now is her worst," Sapphire said, looking down at her boots and the patches of sunlight on the carpet from the early morning sun, shining through the large glass windows.

"Ok," Mara said quietly. "Thank you for telling me." She glanced at the doors and students they were passing and stopped walking. Clutching her books and supplies close to her with one arm and waving to Sapphire with her other arm she called out through the conversations of the students around them,

"Bye! I'll see you at ten-thirty!"

"Bye, Mara!" Sapphire called back, waving.

Then Mara disappeared into a classroom.


	8. Friends

So, how were your first classes?" Sapphire asked as they sat down at a table for lunch.

"Ugh," Crystal said as she set down her tray of spaghetti and mug of coffee,

"I never want to go back to those rooms again!" She stabbed her spaghetti with her fork and stuffed her mouth with it.

"Sorry, Crystal, but you'll have to for the next four years," said Sapphire with a giggle.

"Nothelping, Sapphy! Not helping at all!" Crystal said angrily after she swallowed her mouthful of spaghetti. She took a big gulp of her hot, steaming coffee and then spit it all out all over the table, her plate, and on her clothes.

"Hot!" she cried as she grabbed Mara's cup of water and guzzled it down. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and put Mara's empty cup back on the table. Mara only stared at her cup for a moment before sighing and taking another bite of her meatloaf.

"I thought it was fine," Mara said simply. "Professor Peach isn't too bad. And Professor Port's classes are fun to listen to. So adventurous…" She smiled in thought. Nathen propped his head up on his elbow and took another bite of salad.

"I think I don't mind any of the teachers or classes. I'm just learning the things I need to learn to be a huntsman and I keep telling myself that it's good and I need it. So, it's really not bad at all. I actually appreciate it." He shrugged and sipped his juice. "How about you, Sapphire?"

"Oh!" She said quickly. _What _do _I think? _She wondered.

"Well…" she began, "It's alright. Kind of like Nathen, I guess." She looked down at her food rather than her team as if looking at them would give her hesitance away. She hadn't lied. What she said was true, only she didn't want to do any of her classes much at all. At least the ones about education.

"When's sparring?" Crystal asked eagerly.

"Uh…I think it's in two hours, after our third class," Nathen replied. Crystal sighed impatiently.

"Why does it gotta be two _hours _instead of two _minutes_?" She asked.

"Crystal," Sapphire chided, "Lunch isn't even over for another half hour."

Crystal sighed. "Whatever…" she muttered.

"So…" Sapphire began again. "What're your guys's weapons?"

Mara looked up and thought for a moment.

"I have a custom gun," she said shyly.

"What kind?" Sapphire asked curiously.

"Well, It has a few different forms," she began, "It's normal form is a shotgun with a scope. Then I can make it into a high-impact sniper rifle. And also a simple handgun. The shot gun can shoot straight up dust crystals, that is, if I want it to. I never use only dust crystals, though. I usually just use bullets. And then it can be two daggers."

"Wow!" Sapphire exclaimed, "That's great! Did you name it?"

Mara nodded again.

"It's name it a bit long," she began, "But I call it Charionosenshi."

"Nice," Sapphire said. "What's that mean?"

"Thank you," Mara said softly. "It means Brown Warrior. It's good for long range and close up."

"I have a scourge," Nathen said, setting his plate aside, "Other than being capable of shooting from each spike and having the wips stiffen and be able to wrap around things, it has a few more quirks."

"Like?" asked Sapphire.

"Well," Nathen began, pushing his plate back some, "I built it so I can basically shred, shoot, and rake a good wound into Grimm. Each tip of each of my nine whips can shoot, all at the same time. It's actually fun to wrap a Grimm's neck with my wips and then shoot it's head off. But anyway.

"I knew that if I was sparring a person, I definitely would need a strategy to fight with my weapon without shredding them up in a horrible way. So I made it so that each of the whips would stiffen and click all together into basically one big shot. So it's like a gun handle, which I can shoot backwards and forwards at will, and then bring back all my whips so it's a scourge again. I also love to use dust with some of my rounds. Mostly fire and ice.

"It's really useful for fighting Grimm, but also humans. It was hard for me to learn to use it when I first built it, but now I _know _I've got it down."

"Wow, Nathen," Mara said, blushing and blinking. "That's really cool." She tucked a lock of hair near her eye behind her ear and smiled shyly.

"Thanks, Mara," he said.

"I've got my jolly ole' sword," Crystal bellowed proudly standing up and planting her left foot on the table.

"SSSSSHHHHHHH! Everyone's staring at us, you galoot!" Sapphire hissed angrily.

"Oh, sorry," Crystal said and sat down. "Well, anyway," she continued, not at all minding the whispers and stares going on around the lunch room, "My big beauty of a sword is my good ole' weapon. She can use any kind of dust; fire, lightning, ice, wind, water, earth, you name it! It can even use gravity!" She smiled haughtily and lifted up her chin proudly.

"Does it have…any other form?" Mara asked slowly.

"Other form? Why would my wonderful Blah Blade need another form? She's perfect, just the way she is." She closed her eyes and smiled again.

"Ok…" Mara said quietly. She turned to Sapphire with a puzzled expression and silently mouthed, "Blah Blade?" Sapphire shook her head and smiled.

"I don't know," she silently mouthed back. Nathen chuckled and wiped off his face with a napkin.

"What about you, Sapphire," Nathen asked, shifting his attention to her.

"Yes," Mara chimed in, "What is your's?"

"Well," she began, "It's a boomerang. It can turn into a simple, pistol, which I use for close combat, and then it can turn into a metal bow. I have a quiver of dust-infused arrows. It has _most _kinds of dust, just not all. They're all handcrafted, but I get use to making them when I need to. My quiver can hold about 30 of them at max. I usually just use cheap metal, depending on the arrow. That's my far-range weapon. I love using it. _And _It's connected by a super strong magnet on the inside that I can let pull apart and redo, because each part of it is assigned to a different magnet. I called my weapon Silverlock." She smiled and rubbed her arm nervously.

"Cool," Mara said, amused and excited.

"That's good," Nathen said with a nod of his head and a curious eye.

"Cool, Sapphy!" Crystal said happily.

"Thanks," Sapphire said, blushing at the compliments. "Your's are all pretty awesome."

"Thanks," everyone else answered.

"Semblance call!" Crystal called, standing up on her seat and putting her hands to her mouth to louden her voice.

Everyone exchanged glances and then shrugged.

"I have a somewhat...boring one," Mara said, rubbing her arm nervously, "I can become invisible as long as my aura allows."

"Which is how long?" Nathen asked, a brow raised.

"I've been able to use it up to seven minutes," she answered, "But then my aura was down and I felt light headed."

Nathen nodded.

"Mine's pretty standard, too," he said, smirking, "It's vision. I can see far, wide, close up, further away. Kinda like a camera, funny to say. I can also see things...detailed. Like, almost as if they were slower than they were, but while they're moving fast. Like, they don't _look _slower to me when I use it, I just see it...or rather, _understand _it as if I had seen it that way. You know what I mean?"

The group, including Crystal, nodded.

"I can swap physical status," Sapphire said, putting down her cup and leaning over on the table.

Mara, Crystal, and Nathen's eyes slightly widened. Crystal grinned.

"But it has a certain range," Sapphire added quickly, "Like, if someone were far away, I couldn't use it on them. But if they're within a certain distance of me and I 'aim' it right, _then _it works."

Nathen nodded.

"Nice," the team murmured.

"What about you, Crystal?" Mara asked.

"Oh," Sapphire began, eager to share, "She can abs-"

Crystal's hand clapped to Sapphire's mouth, muffling her words and cutting her off.

"Don't say, Sapphy!" Crystal hissed angrily, her hands holding Sapphire's face firmly as she was on her hands and knees on top of the table.

Nathen and Mara laughed.

"I want it to be a surprise!"

Okay! Okay!" Sapphire panted as Crystal released her and sat back down. A smear of salad dressing had appeared on the back of her skirt.

"Hey guys," a deep friendly voice boomed behind them. Mara jumped. Sapphire flinched. Crystal squealed. Nathen looked up. A very tall, very muscular, and very mean looking guy was standing next to their table. Then Sapphire recognized him.

"Carmen Cobalt, is it not?" Sapphire asked, trying to be friendly. He smiled, a big, friendly smile.

"Yes, it is."

"Nice to meet you," said Sapphire warmly, "I'm Sapphire Lante."

"Hi," a different voice said behind Carmen. Sapphire peeked behind him and saw three other boys, the boys on Carmen's team that she had seen on the night that teams were given. The boy she was looking at was medium height; his eyes were an olive green; his hair dark brown. He was looking at her and smiling softly, his eyes having a strange distinct shape that slanted downwards slightly.

_He's rather handsome… _she thought. Her heart fluttered in her chest and she felt the color go in her cheeks. She snapped back to her senses to find that she was staring at him quite rudely. _What am I thinking?! _She mentally scoffed and tried to think about something else.

"Hello," she replied shortly and quickly turned around and faced the table instead.

_What am I doing! _She screamed in her mind, _You must look so silly right now…staring at him like he had a big, ugly, gross growth sticking out of his eye and then turning my back on him like that? Quite literally…Foolish! Stupid me, stupid everything!_

_"_Are you okay?" he asked, making Sapphire feel even more and awkward.

"Fine!" She said a bit loudly, "Just fine, thank you!" She heard him chuckle and heard his footsteps near her. Her heart raced.

_Please no. Please no. Please no! Go away! _

"So this is team CMSN?" he asked Crystal.

"You bet!" Crystal said proudly. "We are happy to represent Beacon at the Vytal festival in a few months along with your team, Whatever-Your-Name-Is!" She saluted him and sat back down.

"It's Tyn Verdant," he said with a laugh.

_Tyn Verdant! _That's _Tyn Verdant?! But…but…_

"You are Tyn Verdant!" Sapphire breathed. Tyn looked back at her and smirked. She gasped and looked away, her face heated and her heart beating rapidly. She stole a look at him. He was still looking at her with a thoughtful look in his eyes, his deep, olive eyes. She flushed even deeper and looked back down at her food. She didn't know what, but something in her felt drawn to him. Like she wanted to stare into his eyes forever; she wanted him to hug her with his warm, muscular arms…

_ Stop it._ She told herself angrily. _This is nonsense. _But then a realization struck her like lightning. _Am I finally in love? _She wondered. Maybe she wasn't. She had only just saw him only just now. It was too early to tell…

But before she knew it, Tyn had left to his table, not too far from hers along with Carmen. Two other boys were still at her table; the one with the red shirt and golden eyes and the one with the yellow flag on his belt and brown eyes. The man with the yellow flag had a strange looking arm. That, or he just had some funny looking sleeve. Crystal was chatting with the guy with the red shirt, her voice faster and faster.

_I doubt the guy can even understand what she's saying_ Sapphire said to herself with an inward giggle. Crystal was taking on her flirt approach again.

"…and then I decided my cat wouldn't make a good backyard grill victim!" She said with a loud, strange laugh. "Oh, it smelled bad!" She laughed.

The boy with the red shirt stirred in his spot and turned his attention on Nathen.

"Is she always like this?" He asked.

"Only to boys she considers cute," he answered with a laugh.

"I don't want to be one her list of victims," the boy said and Nathen and the boy had a good laugh.

"So, what is your name again?" Nathen asked

"Reuben Rouge," he answered with a smile. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Same," Nathen said and shook Reuben's hand.

"Who's your partner?" Nathen asked glancing at the other boy talking to Sapphire.

"That's Symon," Reuben replied, "Symon Amarillo."

"Nice," Nathen said. "My brother isn't causing too much trouble, is he?" Nathen asked with a grin. Reuben laughed and shook his head.

"No he's doing great."

"Good," Nathen said and smiled. He suddenly took notice of Symon's arm.

"Is your arm metal?" he asked, unembarrassed. Symon nodded.

"Yeah," he said simply, "And part of my chest. The side with my heart."

Nathen's eyes widened.

"Oh," he said, "Why?"

Symon laughed.

"When I was four, my house lit on fire and I was injured in it-" He looked at his left side, "-this side of me. So they had a surgery on me and made me part cyborg."

Nathen frowed.

"Mind too?" he asked warily.

"No," Symon said, shaking his head, "Just my arm and part of my chest. They switched it out with a bigger one every time my other arm grew. It was kinda pricey, but my parents were fairly rich. I made this arm my weapon." He grinned.

"Well, I gotta go back to my table with Carmen and Tyn," Reuben said to everyone at the table. Crystal ceased talking and stared at Reuben.

"What? But you just got here!"she pouted.

"Sorry, Crystal," he said, clearly pretending to be sorry, "But I have to go. Goodbye. Bye Nathen!" He waved at their table and returned to his own.


	9. New Love

Crystal slammed her sword in front of Brook's feet, embedding her sword into the floor in front of her and causing Brook to stumble backwards. Taking advantage of her weak standing, Crystal slid smoothly into a horizontal position, her body looking like it was about to crash on the ground, her ponytail up in the air and a grin on her face, put her left hand down and held up her body with it. Rotating her palm, she twisted clockwise and let her legs hit Brook's, causing her to trip and fall. Crystal stood up quickly after tipping her and kicked the back of Brook's head with her boot, sliding it under Brook's head when she fell and propelling Brook forward, making her slam right into Crystal's blade that stood embedded in the floor; her blue aura flickered around her to show that it was now down. The lights went on suddenly and a buzzer sounded loudly in their ears. Brook sat up in a daze. Crystal looked up and saw Glynda.

"That's enough," Glynda said simply. "Crystal Minkh beats Brook Azul. Good job, Miss Minkh."

Crystal beamed and smiled proudly, pulling her sword out of the floor and marching up into the stands of students. She was greeted by Sapphire.

"Great Job, Crystal!" She said eagerly.

"Thanks!" She returned happily. "Told you my sword was great." Sapphire rolled her eyes and smiled.

"I suppose you're right for once," said Sapphire with her arms crossed in their usual way. "Even if you were using your Semblance to win," she murmured.

"I heard that," Crystal said haughtily with an upturned chin. "And I'm always right."

Sapphire rolled her eyes.

"Jaune Arc and Cardin Winchester," Glynda's smooth voice announced from the speakers close by.

"Ugh," Crystal snorted, "I don't like either of them," She gave the two a disdainful look and a sniff as they began to fight.

"Why not?" asked Sapphire, observing skill.

"Isn't it obvious?" Crystal said as though the answer was clear as day.

"No," said Sapphire without hesitance. Crystal grunted.

"Neither of them are handsome! Cardin is ugly, and Jaune is so…plain and scraggly. Not to mention, they both don't have any muscle on them, either. No muscle, no glory." She finished her statement with a cross of her arms and a satisfied look. Sapphire rolled her eyes and gave Crystal an unamused look.

"That's no reason not to like someone, Crystal," Sapphire chided, looking away from the two contestants. Crystal went on,

"It's not just that, though," she said looking more serious. "That Jaune fellow is terrible at fighting. Everybody always beats him," she said, almost sounding angry. Just then, the buzzer went off again and Cardin was announced as the winner.

"Even Cardin Winchester," Crystal continued with a frown, "who isn't even that good, either. Neither pay attention in class and Cardin is mean; even to me! Can you believe that? He's mean to me, too!"

Sapphire thought about it as she tried to recall anything she had seen about the two boys. Yes, Cardin was certainly a bully, but she had only been in one class with Jaune. She had only encountered him once, at the end of the class, and he had been nice enough. But it was true that he wasn't good at fighting.

"Jaune passed the test for this school, so we'll just have to wait and see what he'll surprise us with someday," she said, trying to look at the best side of things. She hated making people look bad.

"Well that day better be soon," Crystal said as she stood up and stretched noisily. Sapphire looked at her cousin.

"Just don't be always looking down on everyone just because you think you're better that them," she said. Crystal rolls her eyes.

"But I am better than they are," Crystal responded simply, getting up to leave.

_Just don't be too expectant. _Sapphire wanted to tell her, _Don't judge a book by its cover. Read the story inside and then judge. _

Sapphire watched as Crystal bounced down the stands to go to her dorm.

"She needs to think better about people," Sapphire muttered to herself as she began to descend the stairs.

"Sapphire," a masculine voice called behind her as she made her way through the crowded hallways to her dorm. A hot spike of embarrassment went down her back as she recognized the voice. She was about to turn into another hallway and hide in a group of students when she jerked her mind into the discipline her mother had taught her to stop walking and be more practical.

"Tyn," she said awkwardly, forcing a smile and stopping as he caught up to her. He was wearing his school uniform and carrying his books and notebooks.

_He looks so handsome, _her inward self whispered. She flushed and forced herself to make eye contact with him. He stared deeply into her eyes and she felt like he was looking into her and she stirred in her place, feeling quite uncomfortable. It was hard to make eye contact with him, but once she did, it felt hard to look away. His olive green eyes seemed enticing and hard to look away at.

"Are you going back to your dorm?" heasked. Sapphire gave him a look that told him the answer was obvious. He smiled.

"Alright," he said, "I just wanted to ask why you seem uncomfortable when I'm around. Now, of course I've only been around you three times, but all those times you were stirring in your place and your cheeks would…color."

_He's thinking of another word for blushing, _Sapphire said to herself. _He's suspicious. He knows that I might like him. _An awkward silence between the two of them lasted for what seemed to Sapphire several minutes. Of course, it was only a few seconds.

_Answer him! _She inwardly screamed at herself.

"Oh-uh…I…just…" she stammered. She didn't know what to say. "Don't really know you," she finished lamely and blushed further. Tyn gave a soft chuckle and smiled.

"Ah, yes," he said humorously, "I see." Sapphire could only feel her cheeks burn with embarrassment and…something else she couldn't describe.

Tyn paused and seemed to think for a little while. Sapphire felt awkward. The hallways were nearly empty and few remained. She didn't like the idea of being seen talking with a guy her age. People liked to think about romance rather than just two good friends that happened to be a boy and a girl. They were, after all, young adults. Friends that were boys and girls seemed to always be in a deeper relationship when it was just them.

"Could you meet me at the fountain in the middle of the courtyard tonight?" Tyn asked, no hesitance; no fear. Just as simply as if he were asking to borrow a close friend's notebook.

Sapphire didn't want to. She wanted to stay shut up in her dorm with her team. She didn't want to talk to Tyn again. She didn't at all.

"Sure," she replied instead and shrugged. "Why not?"

_Why not!? Because I don't want to! _She cried inwardly. Tyn smiled.

"Thanks!" He said happily. "See you then." He waved and headed to his dorm. Sapphire frowned.

_And now I have to follow him because his dorm is right across from mine, _she thought darkly. She walked slowly, hoping that every turn he took would hide her from his view. But deep down inside, part of her rejoiced that he wanted to see her. A part of her that yearned for love. Romantic love. The kind that meant someone cared for her in a special way. That someone loved to see her in a way that no one else did. Someone who made her feel special. She blushed again as she thought about his overpowering olive green eyes. She looked ahead and saw that he wasn't there. She breathed a sigh of relief and shook her head slowly with her eyes closed.

"Oh, Tyn," she breathed with a sigh as she opened the door to her room, "If only you knew how I feel." There was a longing in her voice; sad and yet happy; eager.

She didn't know that the door across from her was a crack open, and that Tyn stood there, peeping out and smiling softly.

"Oh, Sapphire," he said softly as he gently closed the door.

"If only you knew how I feel."

*. *. *. *

"Sorry I'm a bit late," Tyn said quietly as he leaned up against the cement wall of the fountain. Sapphire bit her lip and thought about what to say. It was like her thinking stopped when she was around him.

"It's fine," she whispered. Tyn smiled.

"I'm sorry," he said solemnly, "I can't hear you above the water. What did you say?" Sapphire looked down and grunted.

"I said it was fine," she said in her normal voice.

"I'm sorry, what?" He said, a bit loud.

"It's fine," Sapphire almost yelled.

"Oh…ok." He said with a chuckle. Sapphire heard him and then flushed with embarrassment. She scowled at him and he laughed softly.

"Sorry," he said, "I wanted to hear your actual voice, rather than a shadow of it." He smiled and looked down at her. She blushed again. Then she suddenly realized how childish and shy she was being. She was not shy. She was a chatterbox. She loved company. She would be herself around him, not a shadow.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I'm just not used to having…a boy for a friend." She looked down after she finished. Tyn nodded with understanding.

"Yeah, I get that with my friend Sandy," he said. "She actually likes Reuben," he continued, seemingly amused. "It's a shame for Crystal." Sapphire laughed.

_She has a pretty laugh, _Tyn commented to himself with a smile.

"Nah," Sapphire said, "She never really _likes_ anybody. She just likes the special attention. You know, just the small perks that come with true love." Tyn nodded.

"The thing that a lot of young woman want. They never think about the consequences of what happens when they only think about pleasure."

Sapphire only nodded. She thought about Crystal. She would talk to her.

"So…" Sapphire said, suddenly feeling much less awkward. "What did you want to talk about?" Tyn smiled.

"Well, now that you've broken out of your shell, we can talk." He looked at Sapphire again. Sapphire looked into Tyn's eyes again. Still enticing. Still deep and wonderful. But not hard to look away at. Just nice and warm.

"Why have you been so awkward with me?" He asked, much or solemn and serious that before. Sapphire sighed.

_What am I going to say? _She wondered. _That I might be in love with him? _

"I…I'm not really sure…" she thought. "I'm just naturally awkward with you, I guess." She gave a light laugh. Tyn smiled.

"Well, I don't get that a lot." A shadow seemed to cloud him eyes and his smile faded. Then his eyes returned back to normal and he smiled again.

"But I think I might know why." He gave Sapphire a longing look. Sapphire looked up at him. The full moon was shining brightly behind his head, shedding soft light were they were standing. The stars twinkled in the dark night sky and the crickets chirped softly. The fountain behind them trickled with water slowly and sweetly with a melodious tune. She couldn't help but blush again and smile softly. Then she broke the wonderful sweet silence and looked away.

"Well," she said as if nothing had just happened, "It's getting quite late. The rest of my team will be wondering where I am."

Tyn smiled softly, but almost looked disappointed.

"Okay," he said as he straightened himself out and stood up. I'll see you tomorrow," he said and smiled at her. Then he walked up the path and into the building.

Sapphire blinked rapidly. A light feeling of satisfaction filled her. She smiled softly in Tyn's direction and clicked her teeth.

"Gotta be myself," she said as though she had learned a lesson. Then she walked up were Tyn had and headed back to her dorm.


	10. Forever Fall

"Yes students," Glynda said, "The Forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful."

The team, along with all the other students walked through Forever Fall, a large forest that seemed to be, just like its name, always fall. The leaves were always red and dark shades of orange, falling and coating the forest floor and blowing in the breeze. It was a glorious place, like a good dream. The air was crisp and sweet and Sapphire marveled how it was always so naturally beautiful.

"But we are not here to sight-see," Glynda continued, her voice strict. "Professor Peach asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest."she looked back at the group behind her and narrowed her eyes.

"And I'm here to make sure that none of you die while doing so." She abruptly stopped and turned around, asking everyone behind her bump into her and everyone behind them.

_What? _Sapphire said to herself, _What's so dangerous about collection samples in Forever Fall? _

Glynda held up a jar full of red sap.

"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap," she said looking at the jar, then at the group. "However, this forest if full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates."

Sapphire glanced at Crystal, and then back at Glynda.

"We will rendezvous back here at four o'clock. Have fun!" Then she walked off, following a team headed down a path that lead to the left.

Sapphire looked at Crystal and nodded.

"Shall we?" she said, gesturing towards the four jars Nathen was holding.

Crystal shrugged.

"Whatever…"

Sapphire grabbed one and looked around, eager to find a good spot.

"I found a good tree!" Mara called from the left. Sapphire looked and saw Mara kneeling by a tree, her jar slowly filling with sweet red sap. Sapphire smiled and walked over to her.

"Nice spot!" she said after her jar began filling with sap. Mara and Sapphire smiled at each other. Crystal, who had now gulped down her third jar of sap, screwed the cap on her jar, which was full for the fourth time.

Nathen filled his, screwed on the cap, and then put his jar into their white suitcase.

"You guys almost done?" he asked, standing up and looking around. Crystal, red sap dripping from her face and onto her shirt, tossed her jar to Nathen, who nearly dropped it.

It was coated in sticky red sap from Crystal's hands. Nathen wiped it off on a white cloth inside the suitcase and then laid it beside his own.

"Why did you do it so messily?" he asked her, walking over to Crystal. Crystal looked offended, and then, after giving him a disgusted look, crossed her arms and walked away.

"Mind your own business," she murmured crossly as she walked off. Nathen shook his head and sighed.

"Maybe _you _should," he mumbled.

Sapphire and Mara both stood up, and then gave Nathen their jars.

"We're done," Mara said, smiling. She took a deep breath of the sweet air and sighed.

"It's so nice out. And the other students aren't finished yet," she said hopefully. Crystal eyed her warily and then smiled.

"Sure! We can sit around," Crystal said cheerfully. Mara smiled and nodded.

"Thank you," she said gratefully. Nathen smiled to himself at Mara's smile.

He loved her so much. Mara and Nathen met eyes and then smiled at each other.

"Hey guys!" Crystal called, "There's an empty jar over here!" She was digging noisily in the bushes and mumbling things to herself.

"You know…" Nathen said, holding up a finger, "There could be poison ivy in there."

Crystal stood up and held up an empty jar. There was a crack in it, but it was overall, fine.

"So what," Crystal said, brushing leaves off of herself, "Anything's poison ivy these days." She rolled her eyes and looked annoyed.

Nathen and Sapphire exchanged glances and squinted at each other as if to say, "What?"

Mara giggled.

Crystal ran over to one of the trees and filled it with sap.

"What's she going to do now?" Nathen whispered to Mara with a chuckle. Mara giggled and whispered back.

"Who knows?"

Crystal stood back up and winked.

"Huzzah!" she said, holding up the full jar. A few drops were leaking from the crack and making Crystal's hand extra sticky. "Now I can have _more _Sweet Sticky Sap!" She pulled off the lid of the jar and licked her red lips. She began walking towards Sapphire, Mara, and Nathen.

"Unless you guys wants some. I didn't see you take any," she said as she neared them, "It's delicious!" Suddenly, she tripped on a root sticking from the ground. The jar flew forward and disappeared through the bushes. A shattering sound followed.

Crystal scrambled to her feet and brushed herself off.

"Sorry, but I'm not sorry," she said stubbornly, "It was an accident."

Sapphire rolled her eyes.

"Look where you're going, okay?" she said.

Suddenly, there was a rumble, and then, a deep growl.

"What was that?!" Mara asked, nervously.

"I don't kno-" Nathen was cut off by the sounds of something crashing through the trees, coming towards them.

The ground shook as the thing neared, growling and sniffing. Everyone immediately pulled out their weapons and braced themselves. Then, out of nowhere, a massive, bear-like Grimm smashed into the clearing. Its back was covered in spikes, like a porcupine, and its whole structure was that of a wolf and a bear.

It stood up on its hind legs and let out a serious roar.

Mara and Sapphire covered their ears. Crystal stomped her foot in determination. Nathen looked around and took a deep breath.

"It must be attracted to the sap!" Mara yelled, frightened.

"How ironic," Crystal said with an eye roll.

"And our negative behavior!" Nathen added, clutching his scourge.

"Ya think?!" Sapphire called, inching nearer and nearer to a tall tree.

"Die, you animal!" Crystal suddenly shouted and then ran at the beast; sword in a high arc above her head, yelling in eager passion. The beast lifted up its massive claw at her and then threw it down heavily at her. Crystal skidded to a halt and lifted her sword straight up, bracing herself. The Grimm's claw slid perfectly through Crystal's big blade and slowed as it went thought until it reached the hilt. The Grimm roared again, louder. Crystal pulled her sword from its impaled claw, spun around and sliced the thing's claw right off. Then, while the Grimm was roaring it's heart out, Crystal ran to a tree, climbed it, and then, with a burst of aura, jumped as high as she could, leaping onto the Grimm's back and dug her sword into it, anchoring herself to its back. Then, running up it, dodging all its sharp spikes, she ran, jumped again and kicked the back of its head with another burst of aura. Its head flew forward and was just short of hitting the ground, if it were not for its rubbery neck. Its head shot back up and slammed into Crystal, causing her to flash purple and fly backwards in the air.

_Now that _that's _back…_

In midair, she flipped, still holding her sword, and stabbed it into the first tree behind her. Her momentum made her legs hit the tree, but the rest of her stopped and she now hung freely from the tree. Jumping down and grabbing her sword from the trunk, she raced back towards the huge Grimm, several students seeing her and following to watch. Using her aura to run faster, Crystal reached the Grimm in only a short manner of time, and then continued to fight it, continuing to receive blows and fight as if she had unlimited aura.

Meanwhile, Sapphire, Mara, and Nathen were watching her, amazed and curious at her brutal skills.

"How is she doing that?" Mara murmured, eyes wide as Crystal was hit and then hit back with a burst of aura.

"It's her Semblance," Sapphire explained, "Her aura absorbs any impact and amplifies it, making her aura last much longer."

The trio watched as Crystal was hit again and flashed light purple, then sliced her sword into the Grimm's belly.

"But if it builds up too much," Sapphire continued as they watched, "then it essentially explodes, depleting all of if from her body. A shockwave of aura will basically come out from her and she'll have no more left."

"So she's always looking to use as much aura as she can so that it doesn't go down and out…" Mara mused.

"And yet she'll fight kind of sloppily so that she has a bunch of aura," Nathen thought aloud, perplexed. Sapphire nodded.

"That basically explains it," she said.

The Grimm, now balancing on two paws and looking very beat up and unstable, looked like it was about to eat Crystal. But Crystal jumped over its large head as it lowered, kicked it with a burst of aura, and then jumped off the head with a flip as soon as it hit the ground. Then, just as it was starting to lift its head from the ground, Crystal jumped from the boulder she had landed on and plunged her sword into the Grimm's head, pining it to the ground. The Grimm shook for a moment and then stopped moving.

A few other students stood by, watching with mouths wide open as the Grimm began to dissolve into a black cloud. Crystal's sword now stood embedded in the ground. She walked calmly over and took a firm hold of the hilt, pulling it from the ground.

Nathen and Mara walked over to Crystal and nodded to each other.

"Nice, semblance," Nathen said, nodding.

Crystal rolled her eyes.

"Yeah," she said, turning to Sapphire and Mara, giving them a high five.

"How did you do that?!" a girl with a very short green skirt and caramel-colored hair asked. A boy next to her nodded, eager to know.

"Sheer skill," Crystal said in a hero-like manner. Then she shrugged.

"Or I could say that I'm awesome, which is totally true."

The girl nodded, as well as a few other students standing around them.

Just then, Carmen came over, Reuben next to him.

"Hey," he said, his voice deep and friendly, "I see you're good with a sword-or, er, whatever that is."

Crystal nodded, smiling.

"I've tried to think of some team attacks," he continued, looking with annoyance at Reuben, "but I just can't come up with any good names." He shrugged. "There _is _one called Holiday, but I feel like the name _really _needs some work."

Crystal giggled.

"Who's all in that one?" she asked. Carmen smirked.

"Tyn, Symon, and Reuby."

Crystal thought for a moment and then burst out,

"I get it! Red, green, and yellow!" She grinned. "Slick."

"Students," they heard Glynda's smooth voice say behind them. They swung around and saw her standing there, her arms crossed and holding her wand. She was looking expectantly at everyone with her bright green eyes.

"What is going on over here?"

One of the boys, the one who was standing with the girl with the short skirt eagerly spoke up.

"There was a huge Grimm-bear-porcupine thingy and, and…this girl killed it really fast!" There was an eagerness in his voice. Glynda shook her head and sighed.

"Yes, I see that. And I know that you are _all _excited about their victory," she said, "But we need to get back to Beacon with our sap samples and complete our classes for the day."

Then the girl with the green skirt quickly spoke.

"But it was _huge_! And it was so cool how she killed it! Single handedly! And she didn't even get hurt!" The girl seemed awful eager.

"Yes, Ivy," Glynda said patiently, "And that kind of doing is expected _and _encouraged at this school."

Crystal smiled and skipped away, flicking Sapphire's headband as she passed her. Sapphire frowned, but then rolled her eyes. At least Crystal was a good fighter.


	11. Plenty of Places to Go

Sapphire sat up with a gasp. The morning sunlight streaming in through the window next to her quickly met up with her eyes, causing them to immediately shut upon exposure and a light pain to cover over them.

"Gah!" Sapphire cried as she fell backwards onto her pillow and lay there panting. She heard Mara stir beside her and then saw her sit up slowly, rubbing her eyes and stretching her head with a yawn. She turned and looked at Sapphire with concern.

"Are you alright?" she asked quietly. Sapphire stopped panting and then nodded, sitting back up and shielding her eyes from the bright sunshine that attempted to go into her eyes with her arm.

"Had a weird dream," Sapphire muttered as she slid off the side of her bed and stood up. Mara's eyes followed Sapphire as she walked to the bathroom and then looked away as Sapphire shut the door. Mara sighed. Her dream had also been weird, though she had enjoyed it quite a bit. She looked over at the other side of Sapphire's bed and saw Crystal, half off the bed, drool dripping slowly from her wide open mouth, and her loose, un-tied hair hanging off and nearly touching the floor. Mara shook her head and looked at her right side and saw Nathen, still asleep, on his bed. The blanket was neatly tucked in at the end of his bed and was just over his broad shoulders at the front. Nathen's peaceful, sleeping face made Mara slightly smile. A surge of love went through her and her cheeks blushed pink.

Sapphire walked out of the bathroom, now wearing her school uniform and holding a dark blue brush, and walked in front of the mirror that was mounted on the wall above the dresser.

"What was your dream about, Sapphire?" Mara asked slowly, seeming hesitant to ask. Sapphire glanced at the mirror, who's glass reflected her, Mara and Crystal's beds from across the room, and looked at Mara's reflection as she continued brushing through her hair and wincing as the brush tore through a bad tangle.

"Um," she began, wondering whether or not to tell, "I…it was about…" She sighed and parted her long hair into to parts and laid them over her shoulders.

"I was running on top of a giant dead fly, and then Tyn came out of nowhere wearing some, I don't know, sailor outfit or something, and he gave me a platter of chopped up computer pieces. Then I saw Crystal holding a giant match and declaring that she was the 'Loaf of Bread in the Rain of Cattails' while she was riding a massive wave. Then, Carmen said he was bringing a deer to the dance." Sapphire stopped as she moved both parts of hair behind her back and began brushing it all together again. Mara giggled, a sweet, quiet giggle that could make anyone like her. Sapphire smiled and continued brushing.

"That's funny," Mara said happily. Sapphire nodded to her, even though Mara couldn't see it. As she finished brushing her hair, she began to observe her face in the mirror, taking note of her cheeks that were flushed from sleep, her bright, sunlit blue eyes, and her creamy pale skin.

"Hey Crystal," she said as she saw Crystal stir in her bed, "I think I look kinda pretty this morning." She gingerly stroked the side of her cheek. She saw Crystal sit slowly up and look towards the closet's general area, her cheeks also flushed, under her eyes light purple from lack of sleep and her hair a messy rat's nest. Crystal gave a quick wave of her hand after just barely looking Sapphire's way and then plunked back down on her pillow.

"Nah," she said in a tired and slightly jealous voice, "Your face looks like an infected toe on Sunday morning."

Sapphire felt of hot spike of anger go through her and make her cheeks flame.

"Crystal," she said just as Nathen was getting up, "Your face looks like that _all_ the time." She saw in the reflection of the mirror Crystal shoot up in her bed with an angry face and eyes that searched madly for Sapphire.

"That's not true!" she yelled angrily, pointing a finger accusing at her. Sapphire simply shrugged and put her brush on top of the dresser she was standing in front of.

Nathen stood up, shirtless and yawning, and stretched, Mara starring admiringly at Nathen as his muscles rippled and stretched under his skin. Sapphire smirked and shook her head with a smile.

"What's so funny?!" Crystal demanded, her voice much louder than needed. Sapphire playfully scowled at her and rolled her eyes.

"I thought you'd be a bit more excited today," Sapphire said to her with a wink. Suddenly, Crystal's eyes opened wide and a wise grin stretched across her face.

"The dance is this Sunday!" she shrieked, bolting off her bed and then into the bathroom, slamming the door and making loud noises inside. Sapphire, Mara and Nathen all exchanged glances and looked back to the door. Crystal rushed back out, suddenly dressed in her uniform and her hair back in it's usual ponytail, and ran over to her bed, ducking under it and coming back up with a mix of scraps of paper, money, makeup, and random coupons, and then dropped them carelessly on the floor by her bed.

"We've got so much to do!" she exclaimed, sorting through the mess, "So much to buy! So much to-to…plan!" She eagerly yanked a piece of crumple paper from somewhere in the pile and waved it above her head.

"And I already have everything all planned out!"

"Yes, we do," Sapphire said, crossing over to Crystal's bed and sitting on it. "We have to go to classes."

Nathen and Mara nodded, both smiling and then stood up, each going to change into their uniforms and get breakfast.

Crystal frowned and then, after sighing, she shoved everything under her bed and stood up, still looking at Sapphire with a frown.

"Who's making breakfast?" Nathen called from the kitchen. Sapphire and Mara both looked at Crystal. Crystal shrugged.

"Why are you lookin' at me?" she asked. Sapphire and Mara sighed.

"Because your on breakfast duty," Mara answered, irritation edging her voice.

Crystal looked towards the kitchen and then shook her head.

"Sorry guys, but I can't cook," she said as she stood up and brushed off her skirt, "And Nathen probably just wants me to do all the dirty work around here."

"Seriously?" Mara said as she walked towards the kitchen, "A girl your age and you can't cook?" She shook her head and disappeared into the kitchen. Sapphire grinned at Crystal and headed into the kitchen.

—

It seemed that everyone in class that day was thinking about the dance that weekend. Some people sat looking up or staring into space in deep thought while the professors and teachers talked on about Grimm, fighting techniques, and historical events. Some students gave several nervous glances towards other students as if to see if they were doing the same as they were.

Sapphire struggled to pay attention to the lesson, but thoughts and questions about the dance kept on swimming around in her head.

_Will anyone ask me to the dance? _One voice in her head asked eagerly.

_Maybe Tyn will, _said another, dreamily.

_Of course he will, _it said with a happy tone.

"Miss Lante!" Doctor Oobleck's voice shot out. Sapphire eked and jerked her mind into attention.

"Huh?" she asked foolishly, looking around and sitting up straight.

"Who was the general who slew the opposing Atlas's military almost single handedly and brought peace and victory to his country?" His voice spoke rapidly and demandingly. "You hummed and smiled as if acknowledging the sweet, sweet answer of this simple question, so could you please answer it for us all?!"

"Uh- General Lee Sable slew Atlas's once-corrupted military with the help of his seven allies!" Sapphire blurted out a little too loudly.

Doctor Oobleck just stood there and stared at Sapphire with his huge glasses and green hair. Then, suddenly and randomly, he took a brief sip of his coffee from his thermos and then rushed over to the board, as scribbled on as it was, and then began to quickly explain something about the same subject.

Sapphire wondered how her half-thinking brain had managed to remember the answer like that. Then she wondered how anyone could remember _any _of the answers, judging by the way Doctor Oobleck spoke.

"Psst!" Someone hissed behind her. Sapphire ignored and kept her eyes on Oobleck's hard teaching, but then the voice came again.

"Psssstttt!" it said again, closer and louder. Sapphire frowned and continued trying to listen.

"Pssssssssttttttttt!"

This time, it was so close that Sapphire could feel little bits of spit spray onto the back of her neck and warm breath. Sapphire turned around quickly with her finger pressed furiously to her lips and an angry glare on her face. Behind her sat Crystal, her neck craning over the edge of the row she was sitting in and her face right next to Sapphire's.

"What?!" Sapphire hissed, her voice seeming way too loud. Crystal's eyes widened and she quickly blurred back to her seat, a fascinated look on her face as she looked at the whiteboard. Sapphire looked back and saw Doctor Oobleck looking at them, his arms crossed. Sapphire sat straight and looked on, trying not to look like she had been disobeying. Oobleck shook his head and then continued teaching, rushing this way and that, making points and declaring things that nobody in the room seemed to care much about. Sapphire looked quickly behind her and saw Crystal holding up a piece of paper.

"I think red guy on the left should ask me to the dance," it said with scribbly handwriting. Crystal giggled. Sapphire frowned at Crystal and turned irritatedly back in her seat. She glanced at the row on the right and saw Reuben, the guy on team CRST, sitting and staring dreamily at a girl with sandy hair and green eyes.

_Good luck with that, _Sapphire said to herself, looking back at the professor and willing him to finish.

Just then, the bell rang and Doctor Oobleck stopped talking. He glanced at the clock and then nodded to the students.

"Yes, yes. Class is dismissed. Have a good day," he said, his words shoved together like one big sentence. Sapphire stood up, relieved, and gathered her papers and books together. Just as she was leaving the classroom, Crystal caught up to her, breathless and eager.

"Well?" she began, walking faster than Sapphire and then slowing down to walk in the same pace. "Who were you thinking about during Professor Oobleck's torture lesson?"

Sapphire gave Crystal an annoyed look and shoved one of her books in Crystal's face.

"Why does it matter to you?" she asked, partially annoyed, but with a slightly playful tone. "And he's _Doctor_ Oobleck." Crystal grinned.

"So you _are _thinking about someone, eh?" she said eagerly. At Sapphire's mean look, Crystal giggle.

"Ooooo!" She said in a snobby way while waving her rear back and forth. Sapphire looked away and turned to another hallway. Crystal immediately appeared at Sapphire's side.

"Where are you going?" she asked, looking confused, "We have to go shopping for a bunch of stuff!".

"I never said I was going to; _you_ said that I was." Sapphire groaned. Crystal rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, well we're gonna do it whether you say so or not," Crystal said, grabbing Sapphire's arm and dragging her away towards the exit. Sapphire didn't resist. She knew she would have to go shopping for most of the things Crystal was making her shop for anyway. So she let Crystal drag her until Crystal told her to walk.

Just as Crystal and Sapphire had left the school, they bumped into Nathen and Mara, quite literally.

"Hey, guys!" Crystal eagerly greeted them, "Whatcha doing?"

Mara and Nathen both looked at each other and then looked back at Crystal.

"We were just leaving school," Mara said simply with a light smile. Crystal nodded and then suddenly grabbed Mara's hand, which was enclosed in Nathen's, and then pulled her over next to Sapphire. Mara gasped and then looked angrily at Crystal for a moment. Then her mad face faded and she sighed.

"C'mon Mara!" Crystal said excitedly, "We gotta go shopping!" Crystal, now holding both Mara and Sapphire's hands, began skipping off towards the dorm rooms.

"I thought you were doing that tomorrow," said Nathen, slightly confused. Crystal clicked her tongue and shook her head.

"No time for that," she said matter-of-factly, still skipping away, "Quit trying to spoil the fun."

Nathen looked down and shook his head.

"What?" he asked to himself aloud. He looked up, but the trio had already ran off out of earshot. Nathen shook his head again.

"Girls are weird," he said and began walking away.


	12. Preparations

"And I'll take two canisters of lighting dust, thank you," Crystal said as she tossed some money on the glass counter. The clerk, an old man with gray hair on the sides of his head and a bald top, nodded and then handed Crystal two empty glass canisters. Crystal sashayed off towards the left wall where many long glass containers full of different varieties of dust were and held up one of her canisters to a light aqua one. She fitted it tightly on and smiled when she heard the top click and slowly fill her container with dust. On the other side of the store, Sapphire was looking through shelves of boxes containing an assortment of dust crystals. She picked one off the shelf and opened it. She looked inside and smiled at the dust crystals inside. Perfectly shaped. Perfectly colored. Sapphire nodded and then closed the box, picking it up and lugging it over to the glass counter. She sat it on top of it and then dug into her satchel, pulling out the money according to the price marked on the box. The old man took the money from Sapphire's hand, carefully counted it, glanced at the box Sapphire had put on the counter, and then put the money in a cashier register, nodding to Sapphire. Sapphire thanked the clerk and then picked up her box of dust, lugging it with her to the exit of the store.

She saw Crystal holding two large canisters of light aqua dust and flouncing ceremonially towards the door. She passed Sapphire as if she wasn't there and pushed herself against the door, shoving it open, and then skipped out. Sapphire went to leave, but the heavy door, swinging from Crystal's leaving, smashed into Sapphire, making her fall onto the ground along with her box of dust. Crystal's head poked through the door.

"Hurry up, Sapphy," she said hurriedly. Sapphire groaned in anger and stood up, picking up her box and then exiting through the door with a frown on her face.

"I was just leaving…until you slammed the door on my face," Sapphire said angrily, brushing stray locks of hair from her face with her free hand. Crystal rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out.

"Whatever…," was all she said. She glanced backwards and looked at the sign of the dust shop. She squinted hard at the large sign: DUST FOR YOU. Then her eyes widened and she began to laugh. Sapphire, still walking, asked,

"What's so funny?"

Crystal panted to catch her breath and wiped a tear from her eye.

"You'll get a kick outta this!" she giggled, catching up with Sapphire and shaking her ponytail off of her shoulder.

"The 'Dust For You' sign is actually a two-way sign! It means that it has dust for you that you can buy, but it's also saying, 'Just For You'! Dust rhymes with just, so it's hilarious!" She laughed again. Sapphire rolled her eyes.

"You never knew that?" she said matter-of-factly. Crystal stopped giggling and then took on a sober face.

"I did, as a matter of fact," she said simply. Sapphire giggled and shook her head.

"Sure you did," she said, smiling. Crystal just frowned and kept walking.

Mara, who had went off into a different store to buy more bullets, appeared just after Crystal and Sapphire had walked down a somewhat small hill. She smiled and waved, a new belt of bullets around her waist.

"Oh!" Crystal shrieked eagerly. She quickly bolted off to meet her, leaving poor Sapphire behind, who was still lugging the large box of dust.

"Mara!" she called wildly, nearly smashing into her until she stopped abruptly and just in time. "It's time to get our dresses!" Crystal was so excited, she could not stop jumping in place, right in front of Mara. Crystal's glass canisters of dust clinked when they hit each other and Mara was afraid that they'd brake. Mara stood there, slight confused, but then lightly smiled and nodded.

"Alright," she said slowly, "But aren't we going to our dorm first and then-" Crystal cut her off.

"No, we don't have to-well…" she paused for a moment, confused. Then she brightened up and held up her finger.

"Yes! We are! Then we'll go to Rose's Boutique and get our nice, beautiful dresses!" Crystal began to squeal and leap around. Mara shook her head and kept walking towards where Sapphire was.

_A girl in a woman's body, _Mara said to herself with a chuckle. Crystal did a series of cartwheels and jumps, and even a few flips in the grass beside the path. She stopped suddenly and quickly joined Mara, but then sped ahead of her to meet Sapphire.

"C'mon, Sapphy!" Crystal hollered as she sped past in the direction of Beacon Academy, "We gotta get there before 6 tonight!"

Sapphire watched Crystal bolt off and then shook her head, sighing.

"She'll never slow down, will she?" she said, though Mara was too far way to hear her.

—

"And this is what I like to call the 'Blooming Rose'," Crystal said with admiration as she gestured to a sparkling red dress in the very center of the shop.

"Have you ever been here before?" Sapphire asked. Crystal shook her head.

"You people ask too many questions all the time," she said with a superior expression. Mara and Sapphire exchanged glances and giggled.

"And this-" Crystal said, crossing the shop to a skinny, deep maroon, scanty dress in the corner, "is the 'Revealer'. Completely shows off the shape. Complements the-"

Sapphire quickly cut her off, not wanting any more details.

"Yes, yes, we get it!" she said, irritated. Mara giggled. Crystal sighed.

"Well, anyway." She looked around the large white shop. "Let's get shopping!"

Sapphire walked over to a mannequin wearing a short, deep blue dress with a silver band going around the waist with a rose on the side. The top was a good length, and didn't look too low. Sapphire reached out and stroked the softy, velvety surface of the dress.

Mara stared up at a long, amber-colored dress with a black flowery designed spiraling up from the side. The fabric seemed to shimmer slightly and she couldn't help but imagine what she would look like in it.

Crystal dashed between mannequins and dress forms; closets and poles with dresses on hangers; trying on silver dresses and blue dresses and a large series of immodest dresses.

"Hey, Sapphy!" she called from the entrance of the dressing room. Sapphire looked up from a velvet dress and gasped when she saw Crystal. She was wearing a massive, overly fluffy dress that fell all the way to the floor and then some. Huge bows hung all over the dress and a pair of large pearl earrings hung from Crystal's ears. Sapphire couldn't help it. She fell on the floor laughing and snorting. Mara looked at Sapphire and then Crystal, giggling. Crystal posed in an overly-proper position, and then laughed also. Then, after a little while she spoke up.

"No, I found my dress. And it's not _this_ one." She laughed again.

Sapphire smiled. Mara nodded and looked back at the dress she had been staring at and observing for more than an hour, She had looked at a few others, but this one._ This_ one. It just seemed to speak to her!

"I found mine," Mara said shyly, still looking at it. She disappeared amongst the rows of dresses and went into the dressing room. When she came out, she was dressed in the beautiful gown. The dress was modest and sleeveless, but tight, falling to her ankles. The shimmering amber fabric outlined her shapely frame and showed off her amber eyes. Her soft brown hair fell around her shoulders and matched the dress nicely. The spiraling black floral patterns gave the dress a perfect finishing touch. Sapphire gasped and smiled.

"Oh, Mara!" she said, "It's beautiful!"

Mara blushed and smiled.

"I hope Nathen likes it," Mara said, slight concern in her voice. Crystal, now wearing a dark purple dress with lots of necklaces, chimed in.

"Nah!" she said, waving her hand, "Any guy would like that,"

Mara blushed again.

"Thank you," she said softly.

Sapphire smiled and then added,

"I found mine, too."

Crystal smiled eagerly.

"Can I see?"

Sapphire shrugged.

"Sure."

She brought her dress with her into the dressing room and came back out wearing the deep blue dress made of soft, silky muslin. It went just above her knees, the hem trimmed with navy blue lace in floral patterns. A sparkling silver band went around her slim waist and a silver rose was attached to the band. The top was hemmed with the same lace as the bottom, along with the sleeves. It was a simple and somewhat plain dress, but it looked becoming and it matched Sapphire well. Crystal clapped. Mara smiled.

"It looks great," she said encouragingly, looking closely at it and nodding.

"Yes, it does. But mine'll crush your guy's by 100,000%," Crystal said haughtily.

"What does it look like?" Sapphire asked lightly. Crystal jut shook her head and laughed.

"You'll see on Sunday," she said with a grin. Sapphire nodded and left to change back. Mara followed after Sapphire and left Crystal waiting. She had already purchased her dress and was holding a bag containing it.

"100,000%," Crystal murmured to herself.

—-

Carmen tossed a clear plastic bag onto his messy bed and leaned back in his chair.

"So, what'd you say?" he asked, a smile playing on his lips. Nathen chuckled and held up a slice of pizza to his mouth, taking a large bite and chewing it. He swallowed and washed it down with some soda.

"I said, 'Girls are weird,'" he said. Symon laughed and nodded vigorously.

"I know, right?" He said with another laugh, "They're always so caught up in primping and polishing themselves while us guys throw on a nice suit and spray on some deodorant. They probably think we go through as much trouble as they do to look as good as this."

The group laughed and ate a few more slice of pizza and drank more soda in silence. Everyone's loud chewing and guzzling stopped abruptly when a knock sounded on the door. Carmen slid his arm across the small folding table, knocking all the pizza boxes, empty soda cans, and dirty napkins off its surface. Then he smashed his fist onto the table, causing the rickety legs of the table to suddenly slide and stopped holding up the table. The table fell, pretty much folded, and then, after Carmen punched it hard, slid across the carpeted floor and under Reuben's bed. While Carmen had been doing this, Tyn had gotten up and walked slowly to the door, wiping his messy face onto his sleeve. Carmen sat back heavily against a treadmill in the corner; Rueben jumped onto his bed; Symon stood up and raced to the bathroom; Nathen sat by Reuben. A strange, empty silence filled the room as Tyn slowly opened the door. It creaked slightly.

"Hi, Evan," Tyn said.

Evan Vermillion, a student from Haven Academy who had come to Beacon for the Vytal Festival with the rest of his team, stood at the door. He had just earlier met Tyn in the lunchroom that day. He scratched the top of his red hair and looked deeply at Tyn. The aroma of pizza sauce and garlic butter wafted through the open door and made Evan wrinkle his nose.

"Um…could I come in?" He asked, slightly nervous. Tyn shrugged.

"Sure," he said, opening the door wider and gesturing for him to enter. Evan nodded and walked slowly in, glancing at the odd pictures and scribbly handwriting on the walls, all the pieces of exercise equipment taking up the room, and the four bunks all stacked on top of each other in the corner. The top was half in a large hole in the ceiling that provided room for it. Everyone in the room eyed him and made him feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Who's _that_?" Rueben asked, a little accusingly. Tyn looked at Rueben and then everyone else.

"This is Evan Vermillion. He's from Haven and he's one of the people who arrived here for the Vytal Festival." Tyn gestured towards Evan. Everyone nodded their greeting to him. Evan smiled.

"Umm..soooo," he looked around at the crushed, empty cans of soda and pizza sauce stains. "Are you talking about the dance too?"

Carmen smirked.

"Yeah. Were you?" he asked. Evan chuckled and nodded.

"Only, everyone else on my team's a girl, sooooo…I came to talk with you guys," Evan said with a smile. Reuben just sighed and slumped down his bed until he was sitting. Symon smiled.

"So, who are you bringing?" Symon asked, then paused.

"Or do you not have a girl," he asked. Evan quickly spoke up.

"I do, it's just…" he trailed off and his cheeks began to flush.

"You don't know if she likes you," Carmen finished, his eyes closed as he leaned against the treadmill. Evan looked down and shook his head.

"No, I'm just nervous about it all, that's it."

Symon walked to Evan.

"That's what it is," he said with a serious tone. "You can't be nervous about her. If she truly loves you, she will accept. With a smile and a squeal." He smiled and winked. Evan nodded.

"I know," he said quietly.

"So," said Symon, suddenly bright, "What's her name? What's she like?"

Evan blushed and smiled, sitting down on a beanbag seat.

"Her name's Laraly. From Vacuo. We met on the plane and, uh…kind of got into a lively conversation. She's very good at fighting. She's sweet and has the most beautiful smile." He smiled as he thought of her. Then his face sobered and he looked down.

"But she's very uptight and tense. As if someone is always about to attack her. It worries me. Maybe something happened in her past. Abuse? A catastrophe?" He shook his head and sighed. "I just hope I can do something if there is something."

Everyone nodded with understanding. Then Evan looked up again and smiled.

"Who are you bringing, Tyn?" he asked brightly. Everyone looked at Tyn, Carmen smirking and Reuben looking about ready to explode laughing. Tyn smiled and shook his head.

"Alright, alright," he said with a grin, "I'll finally say."

Everyone eagerly waited for Tyn to answer.

"I'm asking Sapphire," he blurted out. Reuben groaned.

"What?" Tyn asked.

"Looks like someone's desperate!" Reuben laughed. Symon laughed along with the others, shaking his head. "That's not funny!" Symon yelled, laughing, but even he couldn't stop laughing at Reuben's remark.

"Maybe he's just trying to look none-single!" Reuben continued again.

Tyn looked down, a shadow suddenly over his eyes.

Evan looked at Tyn.

"Sorry, I don't know what they're laughing at, but is she nice?" he asked.

Tyn slowly nodded his head, but kept it down, the shadow still there.

Carmen shook his head and laughed again, sitting up straighter.

"Who are you bringing, Reuby?" Carmen asked, wiping his mouth with his arm.

"Sandy Lee," he said simply, blushing. Carmen and Symon nodded approvingly.

"Evan?" Tyn asked, looking up more. There was hurt in his eyes. Evan nodded.

"Yes?"

"Can I talk to you? In private?" Tyn's voice was breaking. Evan nodded and they both stood up, the group looking at them.

"We'll be right back," Evan said quietly as they left the dorm and headed to the hallway outside of their door. As soon as they opened the door, they heard the sound of hurried footsteps running away. Tyn sighed and looked at Evan.

"What is it?" Evan asked, slightly concerned.

"I _am_ desperate," Tyn said quietly.

"Why?" Evan asked, hoping his carefully chosen words weren't causing Tyn any pain. Tyn looked down, blinked a few times, and then looked at him again, his eyes sparkling with tears.

"I…I-" He seemed to be fighting to get the words out. "I had a-another…another-f-friend..," he choked. "Romantically."

Evan nodded and suddenly had a thought about why Tyn was so sad.

"She was the most amazing woman I had ever met. I was in my late sixteens…" He wiped his eyes and resumed talking, "I don't know why I get _so _emotional over it whenever I think about her...I go nuts.

"He name was Lillie Goldenrod. She had the most brilliant blue eyes and the prettiest blond hair. Her face was like a-a flower. When I met her, we both fell in love immediately. It was…the best moment of my life. We got together every day, visiting and feeling more and more like we should be together-forever. Her parents and mine were both good friends and seemed to approve the idea of us being together. They even talked about a wedding.

"One day, we were out in the woods, hunting birds. It was a habit we both had since we were kids. Lillie would take the prettiest feathers and use them for a collection she had. I would just eat them or preserve them for my dog's treats. Well, anyway, we were hunting and then…" He cleared his throat and looked down.

"Then this-this weird, humanoid Grimm-thing came into the clearing where we were. It's arms were like spears; its hands like blades. It was staring at us, clearly about to attack. I didn't know what it was or how it got there, but it was there and it didn't look friendly. I tried to get us away from it, but it came right after us. It was too fast, so I got out my weapon and started fighting it.

"It was not easy to kill; it basically had spears and so did I. It seemed experience enough to get me off my feet a few times. I kept on fighting it, trying to hurt it, and did succeed a few times in causing some damage, but it just kept on going. I got beat up pretty bad. But just as my aura had gone down, I had managed to run it through. I had left Lillie behind me so she wouldn't get hurt, but…but." Tyn shook his head and a tear rolled down his cheek.

"I heard her scream. I turned around and saw her…she was run-through-" Tyn suddenly sobbed, a suddenly, brief sob that shook his body and made more tears pour from his eyes. He wiped them away and stood up straight, sniffing and sighing.

"I couldn't save her," he continued, his voice emotional. "She was almost gone by the time I sliced that thing's head off. She was whispering through shallow breaths and tears…Telling me that she loved me and that she was glad I was alive. And then..,"

Tyn's face, wet with tears, became flat and gloomy, "She told me that I was the best thing that happened to her. Then she pulled me down and kissed me. Right on the lip. I couldn't have stopped myself if I tried. Her beautiful face was gone. It was an expressionless, dead face that said nothing.

"I had hoped it was a dream, but I knew it was real. So when I woke up the next morning and felt the pain of my fight the other day, I knew it was real. I buried her secretly. Right at the bottom of Beacon Cliff. I planted several lilies and lilacs there so that I would know exactly where I buried her. And to honor and show how much I love her-" He sighed and looked away. Evan nodded, a tear formed in his own eye.

"After that," Tyn continued, a little more controlled, "I was cold and quiet. I didn't talk to anyone much; only when I needed to. And I especially did not want to open my heart up to anyone else. I was so hurt and so…so angry. I didn't want to risk getting hurt anymore. If I were to die, the one I love, one of us would be forever wounded. And then I met Sapphire.

"At first I was reluctant, but then…I guess I kind of just felt like it was time to brush the past aside and look up to a new life. A better life. And I know that Sapphire is definitely worth it. So, as you now know, I love Sapphire and I am asking her to the dance. I know she likes me, so I doubt she'll decline. But when everyone laughed at me and said I was desperate…I just remembered Lillie and I felt like I had to tell you."

Evan nodded, wiping his eye with a quick brush of his sleeve and then clearing his throat.

"Thank you for telling me," Evan said softly, "It really makes me understand you better."

Tyn managed a weak smile.

"Thank you, Evan," he said quietly.

Little did they know, but behind them, just standing my her dorm's door, stood Sapphire. Her mouth was hanging open and her eyes were wide. She tried to digest what she had just heard.

_What? He was in love earlier? He thinks I'm worth opening up to? He's going to ask me to the dance on Sunday? He never told me about this!_

She thought for while and then suddenly saw them turning around to go back into their dorm. She quickly threw the door open and rushed inside, slamming the door behind her. Sapphire pressed herself against the door, breathing heavily.

"Sapphire?" Mara asked, her head poking up from her desk. Sapphire stopped breathing so hard and composed herself, standing straight and brushing her hair from her shoulders.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?" Mara asked, concern in her voice. Crystal rolled over roughly on her bed and stared at Sapphire in question.

"Uh…yeah," Sapphire said slowly, producing a fake smile, "I'm fine."

Everyone looked away and Sapphire sighed. She looked down and felt tears beginning to fall down her face and onto the floor in clear, sparkling drops.


	13. The Dance

Sapphire stood impatiently by the table. An elaborate glass punchbowl sat on it filled with sparkling pink punch. Several abandoned cups sat around it.

Sapphire had been waiting for several minutes for Tyn to show up. He had asked her to the dance and she had joyfully accepted. But now she stood there, waiting for what seemed to her, an eternity. She glanced down at her blue muslin dress with the floral lace and sighed. The dress showed off her slim waist and looked becoming, but Sapphire worried it wouldn't be enough to please Tyn. Then she wondered why she was even trying to show _anything _off to Tyn. He didn't even care about that, anyway. He had said so himself.

_But he's been through so much… _part of her moaned. She simply shook her head and looked around at the ballroom.

The first time she had been here, it was full of sleeping students. Now it was an elegant, dim, _real_ ballroom with balloons, streamers, tables covered in pretty tablecloths, multi-colored lights, dance music and students dressed up in fancy clothing. People who weren't dancing were talking with others and laughing heartily. Sapphire looked amongst the people and saw Mara and Nathen dancing gracefully with each other; Mara smiling shyly and wearing her amber dress, and Nathen wearing a black tuxedo. They were both blushing and talking to each other, though, Sapphire couldn't hear it with all the other noise going around. Looking the other way, she saw Reuben walking slowly towards a pretty girl with sandy hair and green eyes.

_That girl he was staring at during class. _

He walked up to her, took a deep breath and said something. Sandy looked dumbfound, then her eyes began to glow with pleasure. She smiled sweetly and took Reuben's offered hand. The two walked out onto the dance floor and began a graceful dance to the music.

_Love is so sweet… _Sapphire said to herself. Suddenly, Crystal was at her side, holding a glass of punch and pouting.

"Not find a date?" Sapphire asked with a grin. Crystal glared up at Sapphire and then looked angrily at her cup, suddenly chugging the punch in it down furiously. She wiped her mouth with her arm and cleared her throat.

"No, I just can't find Reuben," she growled, staring hard into the crowd. Sapphire looked at Crystal's dress. It was a short-sleeve, light purple dress with sparkly silk that went above her knees. The top stopped just just above her bosom and above it was a stretch of see-through dark purple material that went up to her neck. A sparkly purple diamond was on each sleeve, a small hole below it. Crystal wore a pair of lighter purple gloves that went to her elbow, a small silver tiara glistening in her hair by her ponytail.

Sapphire bit her lip and sucked in air through her teeth with a grimace.

"Um…" she began, cringing. Crystal looked at her.

"What?" she asked.

"Uh…Reuben's over there!" Sapphire blurted out, pointing quickly at Reuben and looking away. Crystal's face lighted up and she quickly nodded.

"Thanks, Sapphy!" she called as she ran off daintily towards Reuben, who she could only see the back of. Sapphire shook her head.

"Poor Crystal," she groaned with a giggle.

Suddenly, she felt a finger poke her shoulder. She spun around and saw Tyn, wearing a deep swampy-green suit with a black tie, with his hand out to her. Sapphire blushed and immediately stood straighter.

"May I have this dance?" he asked, smiling. Sapphire blushed again and gently took his hand. "Yes, you may," she said sweetly.

Tyn led Sapphire to the center of the dance floor, setting her straight in front of him.

"Okay," he whispered in her ear, "When the music changes, we go on opposite sides of the floor, right across from each other. The rest of my team is doing that too."

Sapphire pulled away from him.

"What?" she asked, confused. "Why?"

Tyn looked around and then looked back at Sapphire.

"Just do what I say, okay? It's going to be great!" He smiled and nodded. Sapphire rolled her eyes and giggled.

"Okay, Mr. Verdant," she said playfully, "I will."

Tyn chuckled and then whispered to her the rest of his plan.

—-

Crystal slid to a stop behind Reuben, quickly catching her balance on her high heels.

"Hey me-I mean, Reuben!" she said loudly, flicking her ponytail and posing, "Do you like my hot dress? Doesn't it make me look soooo pretty?"

When there was no reply, Crystal looked at Reuben and suddenly saw that he was dancing with…someone else!

"What?" Crystal whimpered slightly, confused and angry at what she saw.

"Why is he going with Sandy Lee?!" she exploded as she stomped back to the punchbowl, expecting Sapphire to be there. But she wasn't. In fact, she was dancing with Tyn!

Crystal crossed her arms and snorted. Then her angry face melted into a sad, confused face.

"Sapphy's right," she said quietly, feeling tears beginning in her eyes.

"I don't have a date."

She wiped her eyes quickly and stood up straight, lifting her chin stubbornly.

"Why should I really care?" she mumbled indignantly.

"Hey, um…Crystal," a masculine voice said suddenly. Crystal jumped and swung around.

It was Symon.

"Huh?" she asked, "What?"

He smirked and looked down, blushing.

"Could I…" he began hesitantly, "Could I dance with you?"

Crystal just stared blankly at him, surprised and flattered. Then she quickly snapped back to attention. Symon wanted to dance with her! Did he love her?

The thought of actually loving someone, not just trying to get attention, hit her.

"Um…" she said, wondering what he had just said. He just looked patiently at her.

"Sure!" she said a little more excitedly than she wanted. Symon smiled and took her hand.

"Look, he said, as they began dancing, "The music's gonna change soon, so I'm gonna need you to do something when it does."

Crystal grinned as they waltzed.

"Anything to liven things up a bit," she said.

—-

Mara struggled to keep up with Nathen as they danced. Every time he stepped left, she would accidentally step right and it would all mess up.

"I'm sorry!" she said, blushing after stepping on Nathen's foot. Nathen chuckled and shook his head.

"It's fine, Mara," he said lightly. His green eyes twinkled merrily and locked with Mara's amber eyes. The music continued its graceful tune.

"Do you…" Mara began, hesitantly. "Do you…well, I don't know…Have any plans for the future? Like after you graduate and go on missions for…well…however long?"

Nathen looked down for a moment and then back up, an unreadable expression on his face. He looked around the room and then at Mara.

"Well…sort of," he said, thinking. "I was hoping that maybe I could…well, you know, get married, start a family, help save the world…That kind of stuff." He smiled lightly and then winced as Mara's pointy heel of her shoe weighed heavily on the middle of his foot.

"Sorry!"

"It's okay."

The two continued dancing in silence with the music. They heard Crystal laugh loudly and saw her dance past with Symon.

"Those two together?" Mara asked, watching them go by. Nathen shrugged.

"Maybe. Or maybe just tonight for the sake of partnership."

He smirked and continued to focus on dancing.

"How did you get so good at dancing?" Mara asked, still trying to get in sync with Nathen.

"It's not that hard," he replied. Mara blushed and shook her head.

"How?" she asked.

"My parents taught me and Tyn how to when we were twelve. Said they wanted us to be 'Ready for Rivals'." He suddenly blushed at his words and shook his head. Mara smiled.

"What kind of rivals?" she asked, though seeming to know the answer already. Nathen blushed even deeper and looked away.

"Rivals for the ladies. Gotta know how to dance and scare them away," he said, looking away. Mara giggled and turned sharply to the left, jerking Nathen with her and causing them to clumsily stumble by the punch table.

"I'm _so_ sorry!" Mara laughed, tying to appear formal, but couldn't help it. Nathen, surprised from he sudden jerk, quickly composed himself.

"What was that?" he asked, smiling. Mara brushed some hair from her face and giggled.

"I don't know! It looked like Crystal and Symon were about to spin into us!"

The duo looked up and saw Crystal and Symon both spinning rapidly and oddly in sync like a tornado. Students and teachers alike moved out of their way.

"Those two…" Nathen chuckled. Mara nodded her agreement. Suddenly, they heard laughter. Hard, collective laughter. They looked over and saw most of the students, including Sapphire and Tyn, nding in a semicircle around someone.

"Let's go!" Mara said quickly grabbing Nathen's hand and rushing to the circle. In the center of the circle stood a boy with blond hair and blue eyes. He didn't look half bad, but it was his outfit that was making the students hoot. He was wearing a dress! A white, sparkly dress with ribbon. Mara couldn't hold back her laughter and began giggling into her hands. Nathen stifled his laughs behind her. The boy was walking slowly to a girl with red hair in a bright red dress.

"That's Pyrrha Nikos!" Sapphire whispered in Tyn's ear. Tyn nodded, still looking at her.

"The best student in every school she's gone to," he whispered back. Pyrrha turned slowly around and then looked at the boy, dumbfounded.

"Jaune?" She asked, confused.

"A promise is a promise," he said with a smile. Then Pyrrha burst out laughing.

"She _knows_ him?" Crystal asked a little too loudly to Symon. "He's such a puny guy. And so silly."

Suddenly, the music changed from light violin dance music, to a techno dance.

"Baby!" The music sung, "It's time to make up your miiiinnndddd!"

Pyrrha and Jaune took hands and ran to the middle of the dance floor, followed by two others, a boy with black hair with a pink stripe, and a girl with short orange hair. The four of them lined up and began to dance in perfect sync to the music. Everyone began laughing and cheering, some dancing along as the four students danced together, Jaune in front.

Sapphire giggled as Tyn joined the crowd in dancing.

"Why the Floss?" she asked him as he danced, swinging his hips and arms.

"It's the only thing I can think of," he said, still Flossing. Sapphire giggled again and tried to mimic him, but ended up awkwardly swinging her hips and her arms in odd ways.

"I can't figure this out," she mumbled as her hair swept into her face and caused her to bump into a passing girl. Tyn laughed and brushed the hair out of Sapphire's face and steadied her.

"It's not that hard," he said, now standing next to her. Sapphire shook her head.

"I've been trying to figure it out for years now," she said, "I still don't know how."

Tyn just laughed again and shook his head.

"Well, it's fine. You don't _need _to know how."

Sapphire smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Well, sure, but I'd feel a little better if I could."

Tyn smiled and offered her his hand.

"Dance some more?"

Sapphire smiled and took his hand.

"Yes."

The students danced to the lively tune for hours, laughing talking as they did. Then, with a loud bong, a clock struck midnight, it's loud, melodious bells clinging and clanging through the ballroom. Several students stopped dancing and looked around. A few kept dancing.

Crystal and Symon, still dancing, were talking to each other.

"So, you've been flirting with anyone with muscles?" Symon asked curiously.

Crystal spun a few times while holding Symon's hand.

"No, of course not!" she said with a smile, "Some of those buff, ripped guys; they're _hideous_!"

Symon laughed and took a few steps to the left.

"And I'm not?" he asked jokingly.

"Goodness, no!" Crystal said over-dramatically as Symon swept her into his arms in an elegant pose. Crystal giggled and then stood up, straightening her silver tiara.

Suddenly, Glynda Goodwitch walked formally through the crowd of students to the center of the ballroom.

"Here comes the Big Killjoy," Crystal whispered to Symon. Symon smiled and looked at Glynda.

"I hope you have all had a glorious night," she said loudly.

"Aaaand she's wrapping this whole shindig up," Crystal said unhappily.

Glynda gave a quick glance at Crystal and continued talking.

"But now it is time to end this and get back to normal life. So please return back to your dorms and get some sleep. I'll see you at your classes in the morning." And with that she walked back to the large doors of the ballroom and left, Professor Ozpin following behind her. The other teachers, which had been talking on the sides, watched them go, lingered a while, and then left with all the other students.

Crystal yawned and rubbed her eyes with one of her hands, her other still holding Symon's. Symon smiled.

Sapphire smiled dreamily and walked to the door with Tyn.

"That was the best," she said happily. Tyn nodded.

"I never thought they did these kind of things in combat schools," Tyn said looking up at the starry night sky. Sapphire simply shrugged.

"I'm glad they do," she said.

Nathen and Mara were walking slowly to the dorms, staring dreamily at the moon, whose partial-crescent trailed off in several parts of it as if it were shattered. The moon glowed softly in the dark night sky.

"It's so pretty," Mara murmured as she lay her head on Nathen's broad shoulder. Nathen almost stopped for a minute, but kept walking, a warmth heating up his face and a smile brimming on his lips. He lightly let his head lean on hers.

Crystal yawned again and then smiled with satisfaction. Symon, who was still holding Crystal's hand shook his head and chuckled.

"Tired?"

Crystal smiled and rubbed her eyes.

"Yes, but that's only because we were dancing so much."

"Of course," he said with another smile. The hallway was full of students heading to their dorms, some in pairs, a few single.

When they reached team CRST's door, Symon let go of Crystal's hand and open the door.

"Goodnight, Crystal," he said, smiling. Crystal yawned.

"Well, it's technically morning," she said, rubbing her eyes, "But whatever."

Symon smiled again and nodded.

"Goodnight."

Crystal nodded and then walking to her door, which was right across from his. She opened it and flopped on her bed, dress and high heels in all, and looking tiredly out the window. The simple, white curtains Sapphire had put up drifted slightly from the breeze coming from the partially open window. She was just drifting off to sleep, when the door opened and Sapphire came in, holding a rose and smiling.

"What'd you get?" Crystal asked, sitting up.

Sapphire jumped, startled, and then smiled.

"Tyn gave me a rose," she said happily.

"That's sweet," Crystal mumbled as she lay down and rolled over.

"Your sleeping with your dress on?" Sapphire asked, setting the rose gently on the dresser and walking to the bathroom. Crystal mumbled her reply and then was quiet. Sapphire rolled her eyes and shook her head, smiling.

She was just about to change into her pajamas, when Crystal leaped from the bed, rushing wildly to the door, banging it open and then darting away. Sapphire stood there, confused and then shook her head.

"She's just being Crystal."

—

"Mara, I was hoping…" Nathen said slowly, cheeks slightly pink, "Maybe you would consider going out some time?"

The two of them sat on a bench in the rose garden behind the school. A fancy iron gate with ivy and flowers growing on it was behind them. The trickled of a stream nearby sounded in the sweet, starry night.

Mara looked up at him, blushing.

_Finally! You're finally asking me out. _

"I…" she began, trying to act surprised. Then she smiled and blushed deeper.

"I would love to."

Nathen smiled and closed his eyes.

_This feels like a dream._

"Don't even know why I was so nervous to ask before," he muttered, "We were just at a dance, for goodness sake!"

Mara giggled. Nathen smiled and shook his head.

"Nathen," Mara said quietly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and looking shyly away. Nathen looked at her.

"Yes?" he asked gently. Mara looked back at him. A small smile was on her face.

"I-I never thought that I would be saying this…but-" She hesitated and then continued.

"I…I never thought that when I came here-to Beacon-that I would…well…find-find love."

Nathen, smiled and nodded.

"Me either," he said quietly.

"It's just..," Mara began slowly, trying to find words, "I've _heard _of the risks of being a married huntress. I already know the risk of _being _a huntress. But a married huntress...who has children _and _a husband...If I were to die-or you were to die...What would that do to them? Or you?"

Nathen raised his brows, but then lowered them, nodding.

_Thinking of marriage already?_

"I'm pretty sure you already know," he said.

Mara sighed and nodded.

"But what would I-or you, do if that were to happen?" she asked in a pleading voice.

"Keep moving forward," Nathen answered, smiling softly and looking up at the shattered moon. It's soft light was white and beautiful, especially now.

"But-" Mara began, wondering how that would at all work.

"Ssh," Nathen hushed, cutting in, "Think about it. Keep moving forward and you can keep moving forward. No matter how much it hurts or makes you feel. You need to keep moving in life, as if you were in the front of a line of cars on a road. If you were to get a flat tired, you could still drive on. It wouldn't be nearly as effective, but you couldn't hold up the cars behind you."

Mara looked up at him, staring deeply into his eyes. Nathen looked at her as well, concentrating on her eyes. Mara felt a stirring in her heart and moved slightly closer to his face.

"I see," she murmured, trying to think about it.

Nathen moved slowly closer, slightly curious as to how Mara would respond.

She wasted no time, not wanting to lose this opportunity.

With a gentle coaxing that both of them felt within themselves, they both kissed.

A delicious warmth seemed to flow from Nathen to her, and her to Nathen as they did, eyes closed and the moon shining softly on them.

_Maybe this is a dream, _Mara said to herself, wishing this moment on longer and longer. But part of her told her that this was real, and that it was true.

She knew that Nathen had to be the one for her.

—-

Sapphire stood there, wondering what had just happened. Then, only seconds after Crystal had run out, she bolted back in, grabbed Sapphire's arm, jerked her with her into the hall, and rushed down the stairs, through the back doors, and outside.

The night was dark, but beautiful. The moon was glowing softly and shedding light directly on the rose garden behind the school.

Crystal yanked Sapphire roughly into the bushes and then turned around, her finger pressed to her lips. Sapphire opened her mouth to object, but Crystal shook her head. She poked her head out of the bushes, looked around, and then came back in, motioning for Sapphire to look. Sapphire, still glaring at Crystal, did, and then gasped at what she saw.

Mara and Nathen, sitting on a white bench in the middle of the rose garden, were kissing.

Crystal stifled her laughter and then ducked into the bushes again, her hand to her mouth. Sapphire, mouth open, ducked down into the bushed again.

_Those two are really into it tonight, _she said to herself. Crystal stood up in the bushes, pulled out her scroll and then took a picture. The light from it was very dim, so Sapphire was sure that Nathen and Mara couldn't see. But Sapphire felt utter disgust at Crystal's actions and then crawled from the bushes, grabbed Crystal's hand, and dragged her away, back into the school.

"Why would you poke around in someone else's business like that?!" Sapphire demanded harshly. Crystal, who had put away her scroll, crossed her arms and looked away.

"Everyone's business in _my _business, too," she said hotly. Sapphire looked at her and then gave her a cold glare.

"That's not how it works," she snorted. "I'm going to bed."

She began to walk angrily away, but quickly yelled back, "And _you're_ going to apologize tomorrow morning!"

And with that, she went back to her dorm and closed the door.

"What a night," she muttered as she lay down and closed her eyes.


	14. First Mission

"So then!" Crystal cried as she held her two carrots in the air like swords, "I sliced that monster in half. Perfectly. I felt like I could _smell_ victory in it's blood." She inhaled deeply and smiled with grim satisfaction.

"Crystal, Grimm don't have blood," Sapphire interrupted softly.

"So what?" Crystal said, "It's red. Basically blood."

Nathen shrugged. Mara ate another spoonful of soup. Crystal grabbed a roll off of Sapphire's plate and shoved it in her mouth; chewing it loudly and messily.

"Are you trying to make a record of taking at least one of someone else's lunch items for yourself every lunch?" Sapphire asked. Crystal grinned.

"Looks like someone's on to something," she said mischievously and then burst out laughing.

"No, just kidding!" she giggled as she swallowed her glass of water quite fast. "There aren't any more rolls on the counter."

"No wonder it's called kidding," Mara mused quietly. "Because their acting like a kid."

"So in other words, you could say, 'No, just being childish,' instead of "No, just kidding?" Nathen asked jokingly. Mara nodded.

"My point exactly."

Crystal scowled.

"Whatever…" she muttered.

"Who's lost to anyone in sparring?" Mara asked brightly.

"Not me!" Crystal said eagerly, "Not once. No sirree."

Mara nodded and looked at Nathen. He looked distracted.

"Nathen," Mara said softly. Nathen snapped his attention on her.

"Yes?" He asked. Mara sighed.

"Are you alright? You seem distracted." She was concerned. Nathen shook his head and smiled.

"Yes, I'm fine," he said. "Just thinking about a couple things."

"Like what?" Mara asked curiously. Nathen looked at Mara with a gentle expression.

"Oh you know. My kind of thoughts" He looked back into the distance.

_I'll let time and life let you know, _He mentally told her as he resumed his thoughts.

"Sapphy," Crystal said as she fingered one of her uneaten carrots. "What was in that banana bread you made this morning?"

Sapphire blinked at the question.

"There weren't any nuts in it, if that's what you were wondering," Sapphire said, a little confused. Crystal nodded.

"How much sugar?"

"One cup."

"One!" Crystal exclaimed in horror. "No wonder I'm not so energized! There's hardly any in there!"

Mara and Nathen exchanged glances and Sapphire gave Crystal a weird look.

"You rely on sugar to keep you energized and chatty?"

Crystal nodded.

"Sugar and coffee!" she said as if it were a proud thing. Sapphire grinned.

"No wonder you're so short for your age," she said, "So just leave you without sugar and coffee and you'll be good and normal."

Nathen and Mara both chuckled with Sapphire. Crystal only nodded.

"Yeah, pretty much," she said.

Sapphire was glad that Crystal didn't make a mean face again.

_Maybe that's why you're a little less mean today. _Sapphire mentally told Crystal, who sat there contently eating her food.

_It's no wonder, _Sapphire said to herself, _She does act more sensible when she eats less sugar and doesn't drink any coffee. _Sapphire smiled to herself.

She glanced at team CRST's table and glanced at Tyn, who was chatting with Symon. She felt like she would never look at him the same after last night. He looked up and made eye contact with her, smiling. She blushed and looked back down at her plate, a smile rising on her face.

"Mara," Nathen's said from across the table. "Our first mission is today."

Mara squealed. Sapphire looked surprised. She had never seen Mara squeal. She had even begun to wonder if Mara _could _squeal.

"Oh, yes!" she bubbled, "I can't wait. I hope it's really exciting, like, more fighting, less traveling. You know."

Sapphire saw Nathen raise an eyebrow and smile at Mara; a look of admiration in his eyes.

"Wow, Mara," said Sapphire with raised eyebrows, "You really are excited."

"I just told you!" Mara beamed.

Sapphire couldn't help but smile. Mara was quite pleasant when she was happy.

"We have to go to the Orientation hall after lunch," Nathen said, "And we have to bring our supplies for the mission."

"Isn't the Orientation Hall the place where we went right after we landed here?" Crystal asked, swallowing a mouthful of turkey.

"Yes, it is," Nathen said, seeming slightly impressed that Crystal remembered such things. It seemed she never remembered anything important.

"We'll be ready," Crystal said with a grin. "Watch out, evil Grimm!"

—-

"Quiet, quiet please," Glynda Goodwitch said with authority, Ozpin standing beside her with his cane.

Team CMSN stood in the Orientation Hall with all the other students. Everyone had been called there for information about the field trip they were going on.

Students had already begun to arrive from different academies for the Vytal Festival, and many of them were separated into groups; Atlas mainly dressed in white; Vale in a darker brown; Mistral wearing darker grays and blacks; Vacuo in no uniform at all.

Glynda continued talking, the students in the room hushing.

"Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin." Then she walked off to the left, disappearing behind the large curtain.

Professor Ozpin walked to the center of the stage in front of the microphone, holding his cane.

"Together we stand here," he began. He held up his fist, "United."

"Mistral," he said looking at the group of people wearing black and checkered gray and white.

"Atlas," he continued, looking at the other group of of people wearing light gray and white.

To the group wearing no uniforms, he said, "Vacuo."

Sapphire glanced at the group and noticed a few others in the crowd with blue hair like herself. She smiled and then listened on.

"Vale," he said, looking at the crowd where Sapphire and her team were standing.

Several students in the crowd were from other parts of Vale, wearing their uniforms.

"The four kingdoms of Remnant," he continued, his hand out for emphasis.

"On this day, nearly eight years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war that was about much more than where borders fell of who traded with whom, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons. One of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self expression. And as you are all well aware, that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself," He made a slight pause before saying his next thing. "Color," he continued, "It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither would the generations to come. And is was a trend that held to this very day."

Sapphire smiled softly to herself.

_Mom and Daddy named me and Misty for this reason. _A happy feeling filled her.

"We encourage individuality, expression, and unity. Through diversity," Ozpin continued, his eyes looking around at everyone,

"As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exit without effort." He shook his head slightly as he said this. "Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, huntsmen and huntresses will work to uphold it.

As first year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional huntsmen or huntress on a mission." As he spoke, several glass-like screens appeared on over side of the hall, white light flashing words on the screen.

Escort

Search and Rescue

Perimeter Defense.

"Some of you may be taken out of the kingdom for several days. Others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you chose, remember to be safe. Remember your training, and remember to do your very best." Then, just as Glynda had, he walked off the stage to the right, also disappearing from view behind the curtain.

Crystal gasped and ran vigorously in place, her ponytail flopping up and down.

"I. Can't. Wait!" she screeched, catching the attention of several students walking past.

"We can tell," Nathen said, walking to a large pile of backpacks and suitcases and picking out his own. Mara quickly ran up and grabbed hers, all of the others walking past doing the same.

Sapphire looked at her team and smiled.

_Our first mission is today._

Suddenly, Sapphire felt a pair of arms wrap around her shoulders and a body clinging on to her, weighing her down.

"Eek!" she yelled, nearly falling over. The arms let go and then swung her around, allowing her to see who had been pulling her down.

"Misty!" Sapphire squealed with surprise, delight on her face. Misty, who was an inch or two taller than Sapphire smiled and gave her a big hug.

"Hey, Potato," she greeted, tousling the top of Sapphire's hair.

Misty had pale blue hair, tied back in a tight ponytail. She had similar bangs to Sapphire, and her bright, hazel eyes matched the rest of her quiet well.

She was wearing a low, dark leather jacket that stopped above her waist. It had two pockets, a multi colored zipper, and a spear-shaped patch on each side. A light blue undershirt with rainbow straps hid what would have been revealed, due to the style of her jacket. She was also wearing a short blue combat skirt with silver fuzz underneath and a pair of red armbands that went all the way to her wrists. A hole in the ends of each one allowed her thumbs to go through. A pair of black leggings with a strange symbol covering half of them went just above her knees. She was quite pretty, rivaling Sapphire. A pair of black cat ears stuck out from her thick hair.

"Oh, Misty!" Sapphire cried, a tear rolling down her cheek. She wiped it away and gave Misty a hug.

"I'm not a potato anymore!"

Mara and Nathen exchanged glances and giggled. Crystal tapped the floor with her foot.

Misty smiled and pulled Sapphire back, her hands on her shoulders.

"Fine," she said, "You're a pierogi now."

Sapphire and Misty both giggled and began a happy conversation.

"How's your team?" Sapphire asked eagerly. Misty looked up in thought and smiled.

"Um, they're doing fine. But I'm not so sure about Amber. She isn't doing as well as I had hoped in training." Misty grinned.

"Or should I say, _Hsie _isn't doing as well as I hoped!"

Hsie was Amber's last name. Pronounced 'she'.

Misty and Sapphire laughed again.

"Anyway, so…Chartreuse is doing pretty good," Misty continued. She wrinkled her nose, "Could use a little language cleansing, though. And Ember, not Amber, is doing really good. She and I are great friends. She really likes cats."

Sapphire smiled. Misty's face suddenly lit up from a memory.

"Oh!" she said, excitedly, "One time, her younger brother, Thomas, came over out of nowhere! He totally came and then just left. It was really weird."

Sapphire began to laugh and Misty joined in.

"And sometimes, when I'm not looking, Ember steals my cat ears and puts them on."

"Wait!" Crystal yelled, jumping between Misty and Sapphire, "Those aren't real cat ears? You're not really a Faunus like I've always suspected?!"

Misty grinned and pulled off a headband with black cat ears from her head.

"Yep. They're fake," she said, smiling and putting them back on, "And did you always think that?"

"Are you really that childish?" Mara asked, her eyes wide with wonder. Then she immediately clapped her hands over her mouth with embarrassment and shame.

"I'm so sorry," she squeaked. Misty nodded.

"It's okay!" she said brightly. "Now," she said, turning to Crystal, "I use them to pretend I'm a White Fang member."

Crystal wrinkled her nose and thought for a moment.

"Isn't the White Fang an evil group of Faunus riffraffs who run around stealing dust and blowing stuff up?" she asked. Misty opened her mouth to reply, but paused.

"Um…" she began slowly, "Sort of? It's kind of like that. So…technically, in a childish, uneducated view, yes."

Crystal smiled at her knowledge and walked back to Nathen and Mara.

"I always thought you were weird," she called to Misty.

"Hey! Misty!" a girl with bleach blond hair and bright green eyes called. Two other girls were standing with her and looking expectantly at Misty. Misty looked around and saw the girl.

"What is it, Chartreuse?" Misty called back. One of the girls standing by Chartreuse, a girl with dark brown hair and maroon eyes, answered back.

"We have to go!"

"Got it, Ember!" Misty called back. She turned back to Sapphire and hugged her again.

"Sorry. I have to go," she said sadly. Sapphire sighed and hugged her back.

"I'll miss you," she said, her voice emotional and draggy. Misty nodded and hugged her again. "Goodbye."

Then, with a light wave of her hand, Misty jogged back to her team and then they left.

—

The courtyard was full of ships ready to leave to the students' missions. It was noisy, crowded, and very exciting.

"Who's super excited for our _first mission ever_ as soon-to-be-in-four-years- huntsman and huntresses?!" Crystal called excitedly as the four of them walked down the stone path to their ship.

"Yeah!" Sapphire called eagerly. "We're going go with a real huntsman or huntress!"

"I know, right!" Mara said, almost as eagerly as Crystal.

"I wonder who the huntsman or huntress is!" Sapphire said excitedly.

"Maybe it's Rosetta Gray," Nathen suggested. "I've seen her around school for some time," he said, "I know she's a huntress."

Sapphire and Mara exchanged looks and both thought for a while as they walked.

"You mean the woman with the white hair and the black tips?" Mara asked, trying to recall her memories of the woman.

"Maybe," Sapphire said with a shrug.

The team had chosen, out of the three activities, Search and Rescue. That category had a few options. Some of them looked too dangerous, and some had looked too easy. Crystal had been arguing about doing High Grimm Activity, but everyone else decided that it was too much. Then they had found one that they wanted.

Danger Varies. The chance of danger was labeled as slightly less than half of the bar, and the change of danger varied. It could be bad. It could be very low.

"There's our ship!" Crystal called eagerly as she spotted it. Big, white, and landed.

"And there's our huntress!" Sapphire said excitedly as she spotted her. It was not Rosetta Gray. It was someone that they had never seen before.

But Mara had. Well, in a way.

The huntress was decently tall; her hair was deep black with dark green tips; spiky, thick, and long. Her eyes were dark green, and she was wearing a mix of black, ivory, and green.

"Hello, ladies," she said in a medium voice. She nodded her head at Nathen.

"Gentleman."

"Hi!" The team said all at once. Mara looked down at the ground and pushed her foot nervously around in the dust.

"Please tell me your names so that I can address you properly," she said as she scanned over the group.

"I'm Crystal Minkh," Crystal said proudly with her usual upturned chin. "Leader of team CMSN and destroyer of all things evil!"

Heather nodded.

"My name is Sapphire Lante," said Sapphire lightly.

"Nathen Verdant."

"I'm...M-" Mara seems to hesitate.

"Mara Gi," Heather finished solemnly. Sapphire, Crystal and Nathen all stared at Mara, who was still looking down and staring at the stone pavement.

"Yep…that's me," she said quietly. Heather looked down at Mara.

"I was hoping the daughter of my dear friend would recognize me, or at least know my name," she said. Her voice was quite serious.

Mara looked up slowly and locked eyes with Heather. The two stared at each other, hardly blinking; looking into each other's eyes as though they were enemies or friends who had just reunited after a long time.

"Mara?" Nathen asked suddenly shattering the silence. Mara turned and looked at Nathen. Were those tears in her eyes? Heather took on a look of sympathy as she looked down at Mara.

"Alright, people," Heather said, abruptly dropping the subject, "Let's get going."

She gestured to the big white ship behind them. Crystal squealed and ran ahead, boarding the ship and disappearing into the entrance. Sapphire and Nathen began to slowly walk forward, keeping their eyes on Mara, who still stood there quietly. Sapphire saw Heather lean over and whisper something into Mara's ear. Mara nodded, sighed, and then began to walk with Nathen and Sapphire, Heather trailing behind.

"Where are we going?" Crystal asked as the ship flew. Heather sat staring at her scroll, her finger swiping its screen over and over.

"To Fuih Fuirfh," she said without looking up. "It's on the south side of the Hazel Mountains."

"Is that by your village, Mara?" Sapphire asked. Mara was sitting in the corner looking down. Her wings were spread out and hanging down her back, which was against the wall. She stuck out. Brown against white. Mara still looked down even when she answered.

"No," was her quiet response. "I'm on the north side."

Sapphire nodded, although she was sure that Mara couldn't even see her.

"The town's been evacuated for unknown reasons," Heather continued. "It could be Grimm, it could be earthquakes, or it could be that a bunch of random people decided to capture other random people. Who knows?" she shrugged.

"So we find out and take care of the problem?" Nathen said as he polished his silver shoulder blade. Heather nodded.

"Yep," she said. "Just do your thing and be careful," she paused for a moment and looked over the team. "Just don't kill yourselves, anyway," she added without concern. "Don't want to lose anymore defense to this world, okay?"

Everyone gave a quick nod, including Mara.


	15. Fuih Fuirfh

They walked out into the streets of the village. A wooden sign that looked freshly painted said, "Fuih Fuirfh" The sun shone brightly on the settlement. The houses, all in neat rows, looked nicely built; the streets smoothly paved with stone; a few gardens were growing alongside a few of the houses, bountiful and lush; a tall bell tower towered over the village and cast a huge shadow on the left of the village. Each house was painted similar colors; reds, yellows, tans, and and sometimes a pale blue.

"That's odd," Sapphire said as she observed the village. "This place looks perfectly fine. Everything is normal."

"Same here!" Crystal called from the top of the bell tower. Crystal shielded her eyes with her hand and scanned the streets and houses. Nothing looked amiss.

"Yeah," Heather said, her voice still in it's casual tone as she walked around examining the place, "That sure does help a lot right now in our situation." There was sarcasm in her voice. "I was hoping for a little more evidence of a Grimm attack than this. Grimm are pretty easy to get out of places, especially places like this. Then we wouldn't eve have to worry about finding a bunch of people."

Sapphire walked closely to Heather, looking around and sighing.

"I almost feel sad," Sapphire commented as they walked. Heather looked at Sapphire with a raised brow.

"Why's that? You have a soft heart?"

Sapphire shook her head and swallowed.

"Kind of," she said smiling weakly, "But it's just…there…this village. It looks so nice. It looks like there should be so many people here, all happy and content. And so many people built this place, I'm guessing, and who knows what happened to them?" Sapphire shrugged and shook her head again. "I just get sad when I think of things like that."

Heather nodded.

"Yeah, I was a little like that when I was a kiddo." She paused and then kept walking. "Of course, I'm not anything like that anymore. I hardened up after the death of my family when I was training to be a huntress."

Sapphire was surprised to see how emotionless Heather sounded as she said that her family had died. The mere thought of losing her family made Sapphire shutter and block out the thought. How could Heather say that so simply? Losing one's family was a catastrophe! It was a heartbreaking moment that nobody wanted to face. The moment that makes one go into tears at the thought of it.

"How?" Sapphire asked and suddenly wished she hadn't said that. She wondered why she would even asked something like that in this painful moment. But Heather simply shook her head and turned to an alleyway in-between two houses.

"Big Grimm attack during a village fire," Heather said emotionlessly, "Came home for a while during the winter for a visit during the weekend. Found it all in ruins. The Grimm were all attacking; the town was all burning. Nothing much I could do but save a few children from the orphanage."

Heather's eyes were closed for a while as she spoke.

"The worst part was _watching_ my mother burn," she continued and Sapphire thought she could sense a tiny flicker of grief in her voice.

"With my baby brother in her arms. I was stuck in-between two fallen beams. I was trying to get to her. I saw my house burning…But then those da-" she stopped for a moment and then cleared her throat, "_Darn _beams fell on me and pinned me in the ceiling of that attic. The I heard her scream and saw her, holding Alder…It was horrible, watching them, dying in front of me, while I couldn't do anything. It scarred me forever. For life. And boy, after that I could never, and I mean _never _forget that-that _nightmare." _

Heather's eyes widened as she recalled the awful memory, but then her face became emotionless and her voice controlled and almost angry sounding.

"I had nightmares of that day. That time, every night after that. And I still do. It just keeps coming back to me and the more I think about it, the more I feel like I could have been less stupid. Like I could have dodged those da- those terrible beams! Like I could have prevented it from happening.."

Heather's voice became louder and more passionate as she spoke, waving her hands for emphasis and clenching her fists as they walked.

"But no, I didn't prevent it from happening. It happened and I can't go back. So now all I can do is live on. The only determination to save people for me is to remember my mother; remember my father; remember Alder…every time I go on missions. Every time I hear that someone is killed, I think of my family and I get determined to do something. So _that's _why I'm a huntress. So I can save those in danger. So they don't have to suffer like my old village did. Like my family did, and so that.…that…" Heather turned around, her long black hair hiding Heather's head and face from Sapphire's view. Her hand swiped across her face. And she spoke again, her voice for the first time that Sapphire had heard, an emotional whisper.

"So that I don't have to _see_ anyone suffer like my family did."

Sapphire suddenly became aware of the tears that had trickled down her cheeks and quickly wiped them away with her sleeve, feeling ashamed. Crying in Heather's presence felt very embarrassing. She looked up at Heather and found that she was staring straight ahead, the breeze gently playing with the spikes in her hair, her green eyes dull and tired. Sapphire cleared her throat.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered through a tight throat. Heather shook her head and looked normal again.

"No, it's fine, really," Heather said plainly as she looked down at Sapphire, "I should be apologizing, really. I told you something I didn't need to tell you. It's useless knowledge to someone like you." Heather looked back up at the sky and sighed. Sapphire felt like she should say something.

"No, I'm glad you told me," Sapphire said gently, "It makes me feel better being around someone like you. You know, knowing someone's past. It makes you understand them better. Or at least know them better." Sapphire felt a little ashamed of what she had said. She had no idea of what Heather would think of what she had said. But Heather only looked down at Sapphire and nodded slightly, her gaze slightly softer.

"Ok," she said flatly.

Sapphire stopped suddenly.

"Wait, where are we?" She asked suddenly realizing that they were no longer walking in the village, but standing in a vast expanse of tall grass with the huge mountains looming in the distance; their snowy peaks pointing at the wide gray sky, now building up with dark gray clouds. The air had become cooler and smelled like rain. A steady wind blew gently across the prairie.

Heather swore under her breath and then looked at Sapphire angrily.

"Sorry," she muttered insincerely, "I've been told not to swear by you people, that is, unless you don't mind at all."

Sapphire did mid. A lot. But she didn't want to make Heather upset.

"I do mind, sorry," she said, almost wishing that she didn't mind at all, for Heather's sake.

_But it's good for her not to swear, _Sapphire reminded herself.

"You're doing a good job of keeping them locked off," Sapphire lightly commented, hoping to win a little favor from Heather. Heather only nodded slightly.

"Thanks," she said gruffly. Sapphire nodded and smiled faintly. Then she looked around.

"Uh…so…wait," she turned around and felt relief go over her as she saw Fuih Fuirfh not too far away.

"Fuih Fuirfh is right behind us," she said to Heather, who was scanning the horizon. Heather nodded, still looking forward.

"Good. Because I see something," she said, squinting her eyes.

Sapphire looked where Heather was and did see something. It looked like a strange bird in the grass, faint shades of gray and purple, moving around between the long blades of dull grass. Sapphire wasn't sure if it was a bird or a creature, or maybe even a person, but she was eager to find out.

"Let's see what it is," Sapphire suggested.

"What else would we do, Stupid?" Heather asked, "Just ignore it like it didn't exist? Who knows if it'll be as useless as a cold toenail or as useful as a weapon. Let's go," she said and began running. Sapphire hurried to catch up with Heather and began running towards it. The thing in the distance seemed to turn, and then began to run.

"So it's not a bird," Sapphire called as they neared the thing.

"You thought it was?" Heather called back, a condemning look in her eyes.

Sapphire blushed and swallowed,

"Maybe," she called back, hearing a chuckled from Heather.

Then they reached it. They reached _her. _

There, sitting frightened in the tall grass, putting up her arms in defense, was a young girl. She had light purple hair, straight and medium long, falling over her shoulders. The light purple dress she wore was torn with dirt smeared on it, which a blotch of red on the left sleeve. On the center of the dress, the symbol of a beautiful and unfamiliar flower was stitched. The girl was shaking in fear and a quiet whimpering was coming from her.

"Hello?" Sapphire asked softly, hoping to put the girl at ease. But Heather didn't seem to care.

"Who are you?" she asked gruffly. The girl flinched as Heather asked and then peeked at Sapphire with her big brown eyes. Sapphire felt bad for the girl.

"What's your name?" she asked softly, then added, "It's okay. We won't hurt you. We want to help you."

The girl slowly let down her arms, but still tensed.

"My name is Sapphire. This is Heather," she indicated Heather, who stood with her arms crossed, staring curiously at the girl. The girl nodded softly.

"My-my name…" her voice shook with fear, but it was a soft and sweet voice that matched the girl's face quite well.

"My name is-is Violet," she said, looking shyly at Sapphire.

_She looks a little like Mara, _Sapphire observed as she studied Violet's face closely. Her facial features, the way she looked shyly at Sapphire, her weak smile. It all looked similar to Mara in a way. But it didn't make that much sense. Violet was a random person.

"What's your last name?" Sapphire asked. Violet looked at her uneasily and looked down, still frightened.

Sapphire, who didn't want Violet not to trust her quickly took it back.

"That's okay, if you don't want to tell me," she said, smiling lightly and putting out a hand to help her up. Violet nodded slowly and then took Sapphire's hand, with her right hand. She winced slightly and lowered her left arm slowly as she got up and then looked up at Sapphire, who's eyes were deep with concern.

"I'm fine," she muttered, looking down. Sapphire nodded slowly and then cleared her throat.

"Where are you from?" Sapphire asked gently as she began walking her towards the direction of the village, Heather joining them with an unamused expression on her face and staring at Violet closely.

Violet looked up at Sapphire and then forward. She stiffened and stopped walking.

"Where are we going?" she asked quietly. Sapphire smiled lightly.

"To that village up ahead; Fuih Fuirfh."

Violet's eyes widened and she began to tremble again.

"We can't go back there!" she cried out, clutching Sapphire's arm. Sapphire was taken aback from Violet's sudden reaction to her answer. Puzzled, she asked,

"Why not?"

Violet's chin quivered and tears glistened in her eyes.

"Fuih Fuirfh is haunted."


	16. Shadows in Darkness

Nathen walked up to one of the doors of one of the houses. He knocked loudly. No reply. He checked the handle to see if it was locked. The door opened. He stepped tentatively inside and peeked in. It was normal. The floor was made of wooden planks- probably birch, the windows were open, letting streams of sunlight shine softly through the glass and thick silk curtains onto the floor, leaving glowing patches of sunlight. There was a table, four chairs, a kitchen that seemed to have everything a normal kitchen would have, a staircase leading to an upper level, and on the other side of the stairs was a living room with a large plump couch, three chairs, a big rug, and a small wooden table. Several pictures were hung neatly on the wall.

Nathen walked slowly over to them and examined them.

One showed a tall man with broad shoulders, dark brown hair and spectacles covering over his green eyes. One next to it showed a redhead woman with sparkling blue eyes and a pretty smile. The one right under it showed the same man and woman side by side with three children in front of them; a tall handsome boy with the same hair as his father, a slim and decent girl with sandy hair holding a book, and a small little girl with curly red hair smiling large and holding a doll.

The other pictures held a variety of photos of these people in different ages, outfits, and poses.

_This family used to live here. _Nathen thought to himself.

He walked away from the living room and began to walk up the stairs. It didn't even creak. As he went up higher, it gradually became dimmer. When he reached the top, it was very dim. He saw a door right next to him and slowly opened it. Stepping inside, he could make out a crib in the corner with a lullaby thing hanging off the top of it, the outline of three windows with the curtains tightly pulled over the window, and a trunk. There was no light switch anywhere. Nathen felt and looked for one, but failed to find one.

He was about to leave when he suddenly stepped on something. It was plushy and it sank down when he stepped on it. His foot landed on something hard in the middle of the plush and heard a sudden high pitched voice call out as if screaming,

"Mama!"

Nathen almost yelled. He hated these kinds of things. He nearly tripped on the thing until he quickly regained his balance. He bent over and hesitantly felt for what he had just stepped on, his heart racing. He felt something plush and cloth-like. He picked it up and looked closely at it.

It was a doll. The same doll in the picture.

Nathen felt a tear slide down his cheek.

_This was the little girl's doll. And she's dead. At least I think so… _

He suddenly heard a scratching sound. He dropped the doll and looked alertly in the direction of the noise. Nothing. He turned around and walked closely to the door. It wasn't until he was about to open it that he realized that it was closed. He had never closed it, nor had he heard it close. A chill ran down his back. The sound repeated on the other side of the room. Nathen swung around, every hair on his neck rising. His hand went to his belt. He pulled out his scourge, glad that at least that was there.

"Who's there," he demanded, more ready to fight than afraid. All remained silent. Suddenly, a small voice behind him whispered,

"Help me. Mama's lost."

The small voice of a little girl totally caught him off guard. He jumped at the noise and nearly fell. He looked behind him and saw nothing. Another chill. Fear began to find its way into Nathen's mind. Then another whisper interrupted his thought, the despaired whisper of a woman.

"Help me. My daughter is lost."

Nathen swung around again, the whips in his scourge dangling with every movement. Then another whisper.

"Help me. My brother is lost." This one was like that of an older girl.

"Where are you!" Nathen yelled, sweat beginning to from on his neck and face..

"Help me," another voice said. It was soft and masculine, but boyish. "My father is lost."

Nathen began to grind his teeth. He made a run for the door, grabbed the handle and yanked on it, but it was firmly in place. Locked. Then the soft whisper of a man said in Nathen's ear,

"Help me. I can't get away from _them_."

Nathen stood up and kicked at the door with all his strength. The door flashed red for a moment. His foot cracked sideways and sent pain shooting up his pain quickly subsided, but confussionfogged his mind. He grunted and fell backwards. He grasped his scourge and was about to shoot it at who-knows-where when the floorboards under him creaked and he saw the shadow of something above him, arm raised with a blade. It's head had the bony whiteness of a Grimm, a sections of the thing were faintly glowing red.

A sudden burst of adrenaline ran through Nathen's body and he stood up bolt upright, cracking his scourge and shooting three quick rounds of bullets at the Grimm shadow.

The bullets all went straight through it, hitting the walls and floors instead.

Nathen's eyes widened.

_How do I beat this thing?_

The shadow slowly spread out, thining and stretching, and suddenly lunged at Nathen.

Nathen cracked his scourge, the whips stiffening together and falling into the handel, and with a shot from that, propelled himself towards the window, slamming his body against the curtains and the glass. The window shattered, sending shards of sparkling glass raining down below the top window and onto the porch.

Nathen jumped out, grasping his scourge and readying himself. Only a second after he had started falling, he cracked his scourge and let it shoot, propelling himself forward into the air and towards the other rooftop with a small trail of bullets behind him. He shot two more times, each shot propelling him forward and keeping him in the air. He landed with a somersault on the hard wooden roof of another house, standing up upon his landing and looking around, oblivious to the damage he had done to the window, and the glass covering him. The window was a mess, glass shattered and curtains torn. Nathen, panting and dazed, looked at where the window was. There was no sign of whatever was in there.

"Nobody go in there!" Nathen shouted to his teammates.

"Why not? Did you find something?" Crystal yelled from a different house, her head poking out from an open window with shutters, her ponytail waving in the slight breeze.

"I think so," Nathen said, still keeping an eye on the window. He scanned the surrounding area for Heather, adjusting his vision from far to close, but couldn't find her anywhere.

A small burst of wind behind Nathen and startled him. He looked behind him to see Mara, her large brown wings flapping behind her, creating gusts of wind to blow over Nathen and make Mara's hair respond to the wind by flapping around her face.

"What happened, Nathen?!" Mara asked, fear in her voice.

Nathen shook his head.

"I went into that house," he pointed to the house in front of them, "And heard a bunch of weird whispers…Then the door was suddenly locked, and I couldn't break it down, and then this weird shadow, I'm pretty sure may possibly be a Grimm of some sorts, was holding some sort of blade above me. I jumped out the window, and now I'm here." He began slowly brushing the glass off of himself, grateful for the callous on his hands and his aura.

"What did the shadow look like?" she asked, her voice shaking. Nathen looked at her, confused.

"Uh…like a person-y type of Grimm?"

Mara shook her head.

"Did it seem like a merged species of Grimm?" She sounded curious.

Nathen tried to recall the strange shadow. He shook his head.

"I'm sorry," he said. "It was just a shadow. It was right above me. I couldn't really tell what it looked like. It was holding a knife, though."

Mara sighed.

"Alright," she said. "Thank you. Are you alright?" she asked, concern edging her voice one again. Nathen nodded and smiled softly.

"Yes, thanks to aura and my weapon."

Mara smiled weakly and looked down.

"We should tell Heather," she said quietly. Nathen opened his mouth to reply, but Crystal beat him to it.

"No, we shouldn't," she yelled to them, her head poking out of a higher window from the same house she was in before, "We can handled it. It's just some creepy shadow." Her voice echoed through the small village and across the huge prairie.

Mara looked at Nathen.

"How did she hear us," she whispered.

"Because," Crystal called, adding to Mara and Nathen's wonder as she answered their whispered question, "I can hear _everything_!" She added a creepy tone to emphasize the word _everything _and wiggled her fingers in a silly way, then her head popped back into the window again.

Mara and Nathen both shrugged at each other.

Suddenly, they heard a loud crash and a loud shattering sound. They both swung around to see the roof of the house that Crystal had been in collapse onto the rest of it; its heavy wooden beams shattering the windows and transforming the house into a pile of dust and rubble.

Crystal suddenly appears in the air, her massive silver blade arced high above her head, the metal glistening in the sunlight. Crystal swung her sword in a swift pattern and lodged her sword into the roof of the house that Nathen had just recently escaped, hanging off of the hilt of her sword.

"Crystal?!" Mara screamed in alarm. Nathen ran to the edge of the roof.

"Crystal!" He called, "What are you doing?! What happened?!"

Crystal swung back and forth, gathering momentum like a swing. Once she was in full swing, she let go and flipped into the air, landing perfectly on the hilt of her sword.

"Ha!" she said with a triumphant tone with her hands on her hips, "That beam thought it could drop me off and end me, just because I sliced it, but oh! It thought wrong!" She jumped off the hilt of her sword and onto the roof, grabbing her sword and unsticking it.

"Crystal!" Nathen called, "Don't go in there! There's some weird-" but it was too late.

Crystal jumped down and slid easily through the window, her slim body dodging the few spikes of glass sticking out from the sides.

"I have to go in there!" Mara cried as she jumped from the roof and flew to the window, sliding in with similar motion as Crystal.

"Mara, no!" Nathen yelled desperately. But Mara was already in.


	17. Facing Shadows

Crystal jumped into the window, easily dodging the glass that was jutting up from the sides.

Perfect, she said to herself with satisfaction, Got in perfectly.

She landed in a somersault and stood up quickly, looking around. Sunlight illuminated the room with a dim light from the window. Crystal saw a crib in the corner, made with solid wood and painted white, two other windows whose panes were covered with thick pink curtains, and a large wooden trunk on the opposite side of the room in another corner.

"What's this?" She murmured to herself as she began to walk towards the trunk.

Suddenly, she heard the beating of wings and heard Mara's voice behind her give an alarmed squeak. She swung around and saw Mara standing behind her, fright on her face.

"Mara!" Crystal said with a smile, "Good thing you're here. I was hoping someone would come that wasn't Sapphy." Crystal giggled. Mara sighed and looked around.

"Where-where is the-that shadow that Nathen talked about?" Mara asked, her voice slightly shaking. Crystal looked around.

"I dunno," she said casually, "But I found this chest!" She indicated the thick wooden chest in the corner and continued walking towards it, setting her sword against the wall. She slowly opened the chest and felt a sweet satisfaction go over her as it creeped open. Inside she saw the outlines of several shapes, but all of those things were covered with a worn-looking, off-white, dusty blanket. Crystal frowned and pulled up the blanket, a cloud of dust falling off the top as she lifted it.

"Crystal, there's a doll over here," Mara whispered, her voice sounding emotional.

"Mar-" Crystal began, but Mara cut her off.

"Crystal!" she called, somewhat frightened, "Why did you do that?"

Crystal looked up from the blanket she was unfolding and looked in Mara's direction, but found she could not see her very well. The room was significantly darker all of the sudden and Crystal suddenly realized that the window they had entered in was covered again by the same pink curtains that covered the other two windows; glass unbroken.

"Did what? Why is the window covered again?" Crystal asked, confused.

Mara paled.

"You-you mean, you didn't…" her words trailed off as she looked at Crystal, her outline barely visible. The two girls were silent for a minute and stood looking at each other in darkness.

Suddenly, Crystal screamed, a sudden, earsplitting scream that startled Mara and made her almost pass out. Crystal pressed herself against the wall and stared at something, her eyes wide and her chest moving up and down as she breathed hard with deep, shuddering breaths.

Mara froze. She couldn't move and instead, stood trembling and holding her breath. The air around her shifted some, almost like a slight breeze had moved past her. It felt cool, but almost hollow. Goosebumps flashed up her arms and legs and she tensed. Why had Crystal screamed? Was she alright? Then she saw it.

A large shadow drifted soundlessly across the floor, it's outline hardly were what, bony-like plates with bright red marks on its arms and its body, its face was like a mask, white with red marks, and its eyes were glowing yellow, surrounded by red. Crystal's trembling hand went slowly to the hilt of her sword that was leaning on the wall next to her. The shadow came closer to her and Crystal felt her heart race faster and faster as the shadow neared. She glanced at Mara and gave her a troubled look.

Mara stared at the shadow, fear and fright pumping through her. She slowly inched her way to the window, trying to be as quiet as she could. Then her foot scraped slightly on the wooden floor, making a slight scratching sound. The shadow abruptly turned and faced Mara, its frightening head seeming to scan her over. Mara gasped when she saw the shadow more closely and then held her breath, closed her eyes, and suddenly disappeared from view.

Crystal almost gasped when she saw.

Where did Mara go?! Crystal's thoughts screamed. Did she teleport?!

The shadow lingered around the place where Mara had been and then turned around. Crystal gripped the hilt of her sword tightly, her knuckles turning white. Sweat from her hands transferred to the handle and made it slippery. Crystal stood up more straight, readying herself for the meager plan she had constructed in her head while she had been standing there. The shadow, nearing Crystal more quickly than before, suddenly seeped into the floor in front of Crystal, leaving behind a lingering darkness on the spot. Crystal stepped forward, holding her sword and putting her right foot forward, looking around.

The shadow suddenly appeared behind Crystal in the air and stretched out, wanting to consume her. Crystal swung around and swung her sword in a swift motion, cleaving through the shadow. But the blade just went through it. Crystal gasped and tried to stab it again. The blade went through it again and stuck into the wall behind it. The shadow swept under Crystal and seemed to make the ground under her shift and wave, causing Crystal to stumble and fall. She flipped as she fell and landed on both of her hands like a handstand and did an an array of back handsprings, landing back on her feet beside the window that had been broken by Nathen earlier. She saw the shadow blur towards her with incredible speed. It was nearly on her when Crystal let her feet slide forward and cause her to slide down and land on her bottom. She lunged forward on her hands and knees, landing in another somersault and jumping up into the air, dodging the flinging shadow that had again almost hit Crystal while she had been on the ground. She landed solidly on her feet and jumped and flipped in the air once again to dodge the shadow.

"Mara!" Crystal shouted as she rolled into the corner and stood up, swinging her sword wildly and twirling it in circles in hopes of fending off the shadow for a little longer. "Where are you?!"

—

Mara stood there, frozen. The shadow lingered there for a while, seeming to look for her, but didn't to find her. Then it turned around and began to go back in Crystal's way, faster.

Mara looked at Crystal, who was standing up again and holding her sword with a look of confidence, somewhat meager, but still confident, looking straight at the shadow.

Maybe Crystal will kill that…thing. Or at least hold if off while I get help, Mara said to herself. She is supposedly skillful, anyway, according to herself.

Mara felt a faint weakness start to come over her.

I don't have much time. I have to get Nathen and try to kill this thing.

Mara crept closer to the window still, slowly opened the curtains and then hid behind them. She felt bad for having used her semblance, invisibility, to hide from the shadow. She felt like a coward, hiding because she was scared; not for tactic, not to distract it, but to hide. But she was going to find help now. She would get Nathen and Sapphire.

Mara looked behind her and saw the window, closed and unbroken and wondered how it was suddenly mended, but decided to carry on with her plan. She quietly and tentatively opened the window, stepped out onto the flowerbed, and then closed it, feeling more and more guilt pile up in her. She felt so wrong leaving Crystal in there all alone with some lurking shadow looking about to attack her.

Crystal is a good fighter. She will be fine, Mara told herself over and over again as she flew quickly from the window and back to the roof where she and Nathen had been earlier. It felt good to be out of the dim, warm room and back into the bright and sunny village again. But there was something more creepy about it now. Even though she knew it was empty when she came here, the fact that its was empty after seeing that-that thing, made it seem even creepier than before and Mara found herself constantly looking behind and around herself in fear.

She landed smoothly on the top of the roof and looked around, surprised that Nathen wasn't there anymore.

"Nathen?" Mara asked, somewhat frightened. She hated it when people randomly disappeared. There was no reply.

"Nathen?" Mara called again, mare desperate, "Nathen!"

Suddenly she heard a yell. She swung around and saw Nathen, standing on top of a fountain of a nude woman on a rock spitting water into the rest of the fountain, holding his scourge and wiping it around, sending a rain of bullets ripping the the air and exploding on the ground, leaving large holes and unearthed piles of dirt.

"Nathen!" Mara screamed, running to the edge of the roof and spreading out her wings again preparing to jump and fly to him, "What are you doing?!"

She leaped off the roof and glided down, landing beside the fountain and jumping onto the top next to Nathen. Nathen looked at Mara and then back at what he was shooting at.

"Mara! What are you doing over here?!" He shouted above the shooting of his scourge, "I thought you were with Crystal!" He jumped suddenly off the side of the fountain, wrapping the his arm tightly around Mara's waist and taking her with him, landing solidly on his feet beside the fountain and then bolting off in the opposite direction, carrying Mara.

Mara screamed and then, after realizing her situation, wriggled out of Nathen's arms and then running beside him.

"What are we running from!?" Mara called as they ran.

"Some shadow!" He yelled as he jumped over a picket fence and Mara followed in almost perfect sync, "It looks like the one from that house! But I can totally see more detail!" He leaped over a small garden and landed in a somersault, standing up immediately and running again. Mara followed.

"My bullets go right through it, and so does everything thing else!" Nathen continue, panting as he ran and glancing franticly behind him again. "Not even dust does anything!" He dodged a large rock and suddenly fell flat on the ground.

"Duck!" He shouted, pulling Mara down with him. Mara fell hard on the ground, a bit irritated at Nathen for pulling her down like that, but remained silent and stayed there. Nathen jumped up again, jerking Mara up with him, and then ran again, this time west instead of north, towards the mountains.

Mara, who was rather dazed and very surprised at the suddenness of the moment, glanced quickly behind her shoulder, seeing the shadow. It was in the shape of a man, it's features blunt and messy and seemingly melted into its dark body. It was holding a sword and coming directly at them with increasing speed.

"Nathen!" Mara shrieked, her hair blowing in her face and the wind blowing in her ears, it's coming!"

The shadow, now at a blurring speed, raced towards them, about to run past the fountain, but the spray of the water form it splashed onto the shadow. As water began dripping off it, the whole shadow began to melt with the water.

"What?!" Mara yelled, confused. "It's melting!"

"Because of the water!" Nathen shouted excitedly. "C'mon!"

—

Crystal jumped up and flipped in the air again, but this time forwards, landing on her feet and sliding down, putting her hand down and turning her body around with her arm, jumping, and then landing in a somersault. Then the shadow was on top of Crystal before she could do anything. The shadow seemed to blanket Crystal, rolling her up like a carpet and spinning her around over and over again in the air and then flinging her down hard onto the ground.

Crystal hit the ground hard and then slid backwards with disturbing momentum, scraping the floor with her back. Crystal flipped backwards with the momentum and landed on her feet again, slightly dazed, and grabbed her sword from the wall, yanking it out of the wood, swung it in her hand a few times, and then threw it at the window. Her sword went right through the thick curtain and the window, shattering once again and leaving her sword dangling on its hilt by the flower bed attached to the window.

Crystal made a run for the window, running to the side and jumping, landing in a somersault as the shadow went at her several times. She jumped at the window, her arms out forward and her legs out like she was flying. Then the shadow wrapped around her legs, pulling her down and making her crash onto the floor again. Her aura was brimming inside her, being to feel like more than she could handle. She groaned and tried desperately to go forward. Back to the window. She scratched at the floor as the shadow dragged her backwards; it's grip cold and frightening.

This things arms are like that cold seaweed that wraps around your leg at the bottom of the pond! Crystal's mind cried as she tried to resist the shadows grip. The shadow kept pulling her forward until it reached the corner of the room again.

"Let go of me!" Crystal shrieked as she struggled to free herself. The shadow seemed to laugh, though it was more like the sound of wind blowing hard around a house, and melted into a blob, sliding around Crystal and squeezing her tight.

"Let go!" She cried as she struggled and tried to get away. She gasped as the shadow covered over her face and seemed to make her unable to breath. She tried shake free, but it was like being wrapped in thick, prickly, cold rubber. Then she stopped thrashing and relaxed in the shadow's cold rubbery grip.

My arms aren't blocked from anything and I just might be able to…

Crystal mentally said as her lungs began to cry out for air. She moved her hands and felt that there was a little room. She clawed at the shadow and its sides seemed to shock and prick her. Then, with one last blow from the shadow, her aura, fuller than Crystal's body could take, exploded. A wave of glowing light purple rippled out from her and made the shadow burst into a million different pieces. Crystal fell on her hands and knees, gasping for breath and looking around. A warm wave of throbbing pain and lightheadedness washed over her head for a moment, pulsed, and then cleared all in a moment of time.

Crystal stood up and ran again for the window, feeling like she was running on weakness rather than strength and ignoring the sharp glass the scraped against her arms and legs, tearing her clothes and causing brief pain to her arms and legs. Grateful for aura and eager to leave, she jumped out, grabbing the hilt of her sword and flipping wildly in the air. She plunged her sword into the ground, reducing her momentum and landing Crystal on the ground. Crystal's feet managed to land on either side of the handles, but then slipped off as her sword made impact with he ground, Crystal's chin smacked the handle of her sword as she landed, and Crystal fell, landed into a half-hearted somersault, and lay on the ground, weak, tired, and dazed. The warm, metallic taste of blood creeped into her mouth.

Great, Crystal mentally muttered, my aura's down. But at least it worked.

She stood up and shook her head, trying to clear it and then looked around. She was standing next to the house that had collapsed when she had been in it much earlier, most of the dust settled, but some still lingering in the air around it. She shook her head and tottered towards the house that Nathen and Mara had been on top of.

"Nathen? Mara?" She called feebly as she neared it, "You up there?"

She stopped in front of it and peered up to the top, but saw nobody on the roof. Puzzled, she opened the door and walked inside, the inside much like all the others she had been in. She walked up the stairs, through a hallway, and then to a ladder that led up to the roof, and climbed up it onto the top. The sun glared into her eyes, but was shadowed by a cloud that passed slowly by. Crystal glanced at the cloud, a dark gray cloud that was like that of a thunderstorm. Then she saw more, a wall of thick, dark storm clouds moving early towards the village. The air was a bit more chilly and a gentle breeze blew her ponytail slightly. She stood on the roof, outlooking the empty town.

Where are Nathen and Mara? And where did Heather and Sapphy go?

Crystal signed and shook her head. The solemness that had been hidden so deep in her was brought out; the silly energy that had been previously shining hiding inside of her in place of the graveness. The weakness that had been dragging on her had been somewhat clearing as her aura had been slowly regenerating.

Feeling a little stronger, Crystal walked to the edge of the roof and jumped off, the wind blowing in her ears and wiping her hair around as she neared the bottom. Then she stabbed her sword into the hard ground again and landed with her feet on her weapon's hilt. She jumped off, pulled her sword out of the ground, clicked the button on the side of it that made the blade fold back into the hilt, and then put the hilt back into the strap on her back. Then she walked slowly on the simple paved stone path that lead to the large mountains in the distance.

A boom of thunder roared across the village and the long flatland that stretched to the mountains and around Fuih Fuirfh. Shortly after, a few drops of rain began to fall from the sky and dot the stone path and the houses with wet spots, then it began to rain. All around, the cold rain showered the village and soaked everything, including Crystal. She put her arms around herself and rubbed her wet arms, providing little warmth to herself. She looked up at the bell tower, so tall and wondered what she was going to do. A thick wall of gloom seemed to shadow over her, leaving her quiet and pitiful as she walked down the path. Then she stopped abruptly.

"What am I doing?" she asked herself, the gloom suddenly shattered. "Why am I moping around in the rain in the middle of my first mission? I'm team leader! I should be finding my team and trying to figure out what that weird shadow was!"

She stomped her foot forward and stood up straight, looking around and taking on her old look of determination again. She ran back to the middle of the village, which contained a still-running fountain with a statue of a naked woman with long wavy hair and was posed in a ladylike sitting position as she sat on a rock that gushed water into the rest of the fountain.

"Mara! Nathen! Sapphy!" she hollered, "Are you with Heather?!" She called out similar shouts and gave up. They didn't seem to be around. The she heard a distant noise. Crystal turned around and faced the mountains and saw something. It looked like the outlines of several people of mixed color, together in the surrounding prairie. They seemed to be fighting. She heard it again and knew it was them. Or at least someone.

Crystal dashed towards the mountain, the raindrops falling beginning to sting on her skin as her speed grew and she got closer and closer to the mountains. The wind had increased its strength and began wiping Crystal's hair around her face, but it didn't get in her way because of the short ponytail she had on the back of her head. The wind roared in her ears and another crashed of thunder boomed across the prairie like an echo. Crystal hurried on, and panted her way across the grass, for she was no longer on the stone path. Then a huge white flash of lightning cracked across the sky like claws and a violent crash of thunder trailed after it, making the ground seem to rumble under her feet. A tree in the distance that stood alone was suddenly ablaze, tongues of fire rising from its limbs and gray puffs of smoke from its top.

Lightning probably set it. She said to herself as she ran, staring at the burning tree. But the fire began to slowly disappear as the rain pour out onto the tree and extinguished the flames.

As she got closer and closer to the group of people, fighting sounds and shouts were more clearly heard and the dark form of that looked an awful lot the shadow she had just previously fought was flashing around the small group that.

"What the…" A wandering thought filled her head.

Then she recognized the people.

Sapphire was running in circles around the shadow, a red arrow positioned on her bow and her blue hair blowing around in the wind, darker in its color due to the rain. Nathen was running in front of Mara, who was laying on the ground, and Heather was running right to Crystal, an angry look on her face. A bright orange flair shot through the air as Sapphire let her arrow fly, and then faded as it dissolved into the shadow.

"Charis!" Heather called as she approached her.

"Crystal," Crystal interrupted immediately. Heather rolled her eyes and shook her head,

"Whatever! Get over here! This shadow is attacking us and we need all the help we can get."


	18. Violet and Mara

"Can't you destroy it?" Crystal yelled with mock respect, "I thought you were experienced enough to handle these things, Ma'am"

Heather scowled and grabbed Crystal's arm roughly.

"I that thing was _abl_e to get hurt, it would have been demolished the moment we started attacking it," Heather hissed. "Now do something! Nate told me that you were attacking one of these before and now that you're back, I'm guessing you know how to kill one of these things," Heather paused and then added sharply, "That is, unless you're an insane escaper."

Crystal shook her head.

"No! No, I know how!" She shouted above another boom of ear-splitting thunder, "Aura!" A white flash of lighting blinded her for a moment and was followed by another boom of thunder. The wind wiped Crystal's deep purple and gray half-skirt attached her black shorts around her legs and blew her hair around, undoing some of the hair from her ponytail.

"What?!" Heather shouted, confusion and anger mixing together.

"Aura destroys those things like an explosion!" Crystal yelled.

"First of all," Heather screamed through the noise of the storm, "That doesn't make sense. Second, nobody has unlimited aura, okay?"

The sky was nearly black and flashed gray when the bright lightning cracked through it. Crystal looked around and heard Nathen yell. The shadow was invisible in this storm and Crystal had to wait for lightning to flash in order to try to catch a glimpse of the shadow.

A bright flash; Sapphire was thrown through the air into the darkness with a frightened scream. Another flash; Nathen was seen covering on top of Mara, his eyes closed and the tears running down his face unseen in the rain. Another flash; Heather looked hard through the wind and rain to look for Crystal, her black hair blowing behind her and getting in her eyes. And then, with a huge crack of lightning, Crystal saw the shadow, standing in the middle of the "circle" of their team, lightning striking it and dissolving into its center as it grew larger and larger with each lightning bolt. The pelting rain seemed to melt the shadows 'skin', but then lightning would strike it and the shadow would grow.

"Water!" Nathen roared form somewhere to to the left, "It melts it! We need less lightning!"

"Sure!" Heather screamed sarcastically, "We'll just do that!"

Another flash.

"What are we going to do?!" It was Sapphire's voice that called through the darkness.

"Sapphy!" Crystal shrieked, "Do you have water dust?!"

"What?" came Sapphire's strained reply, "I have two!"

"Quick!" Crystal instructed, "Shoot it into its center!"

Crystal slid her finger across her swords dripping wet blade onto the several buttons on the side of the hilt. Clicking a dark blue one, the sword glowed a deep blue and began to drip with water, much more than with all the rain.

Another flash. Two blue arrows whizzed through the air and embedded into the shadow's center, dissolving into bubbles of water. The area around bubbles of water, the shadow began to melt into thick, syrupy blobs. Crystal raced towards it, slicing through it with her sword. It glided right through it, as expected, but then a wave of water followed where Crystal sliced, and the shadow continued to melt. Then, aided but the thousands of raindrops, the shadow melted into a pool of black muck, washing quickly away from the rain. Crystal breathed a sigh of relief and pulled back her wet hair.

"Crystal?" Sapphire's voice called "Crystal!" Crystal wiped at the rain on her face, though it soaked up as soon as her hand left her it.

"Sapphy?" she called, looking around at the darkness, seeing hardly anything. She heard footsteps, and through another bright flash, she saw Sapphire walking up to her looking around with a look calm curiosity. Her eyes met Crystal's gaze.

"That was pretty easy," Crystal called, shielding her eyes from the pouring rain.

"Yes," Sapphire answered, standing next to her, "But, if water couldn't melt it, we probably would have lost."

"Yeah, maybe," Crystal agreed, shrugging.

Sapphire nodded and then looked around again.

"Sapphy," Crystal asked, "What's wrong with Mara? She was laying on the ground when I came over here."

Sapphire continued looking around behind them.

"Mara was struck by lightning as soon as that shadow-thing started attacking us. That things seems to absorb lightning and then shoot it right back at us."

"Is she okay?" Crystal asked somewhat concerned.

"I don't know," Sapphire said quietly. "Let's see."

Sapphire and Crystal, after a few flashes of lightning to help guide them, arrived beside Nathen, who was kneeling by Mara who lay on the ground; wet hair dark and messy around her head; eyes softly shut; arms limply at her sides.

"How is she," Sapphire almost shouted above a loud clap of thunder. Nathen looked at her, concern and tears in his eyes.

"I…I'm not sure." he said, his voice shaking with emotion. "But her heart's beating and her breathing is fine. So…uh, I think she's just knocked out. I don't see any injuries and I didn't want to…um…check her _too_ thoroughly…you know. But her scroll says her aura is totally down, so she's pretty vulnerable right now." His hands were clasped in one of Mara's and he looked back down at her. Crystal spat blood and spit onto the ground next to her and cleared her throat.

"Well, so am I, only, I'm awake and in action, doing something actually relevant, rather than laying on the ground like a rock."

"Listen up, you lazy lumps," Heathers hard voice said behind them, "We've got a mission to do, so if no one's hurt too bad, get up and finish the job."

Crystal stood up, facing Heather who stood right behind her.

"Mara's been struck by lightning," she informed her. Heather met Crystal's gaze with a cold glare.

"So what," she said without emotion.

"So shouldn't we take a quick brake and make sure she's okay?"

"This is a mission," Heather said in a grave voice, "We do not take brakes. When lives are at stake and there are more enemies coming, we can't take brakes. Ordinary people can't stay alive for a million years while in danger. And to know that they could be being slaughtered, tortured, and enslaved and then asking to waste some of their precious time alive just to rest your puny little feet? I don't think so." She walked past Crystal and to the group where Nathen, Mara and Sapphire were.

"Listen up, Buttercups," she ordered loudly, "We need to continue our mission and stop sitting around like a bunch of flowers. We need to get rid of the rest of these shadows and find out where everyone in Fuih Fuirfh went."

"But Mara-" Nathen began, but Heather interrupted him.

"She's fine. I can wake her up when I'm done."

"How are we going to figure out where they are?" Crystal asked.

"I believe we have found an answer to that question," Heather said, glancing around. "Where's Violet?" she asked, looking at Sapphire. Sapphire's eyes widened and she stood up quickly.

"Violet?!" she called frantically. "Violet!" Sapphire ran quickly out of sight and soon returned with the shaking and frighted girl, soaked and even more ragged looking. "Right here!" Sapphire said as she led Violet over to the group. Nathen and Crystal looked at Violet with confusion plain on each of their faces and looked at each other and shrugged.

Heather walked over to Mara and kneeled beside her, a hint of sympathy on her face. She reached her black-gloved hand to Mara's nose and pinched it shut, waiting for several seconds. After what seemed to Nathen an eternity, Mara's face scrunched up and she gasped, coughing and opening her eyes in alarm. Heather let go of Mara's nose and wiped her hand on her pants, standing up and facing the group. Mara looked around in confusion and looked at Nathen with a question in her frightened amber eyes. Nathen soothed Mara gently as he held her hand.

"It's alright, Mara. You're alright. The shadow's gone now, so don't worry." He smiled faintly and Mara calmed down a bit.

"Why are you treating her like a three year old?" Heather asked sharply looking down at Nathen and Mara with an almost angry look on her face.

"We have a mission to finish. Now get up. Mara's fine." Heather frowned and turned around to face Violet, who stood shaking with the cold rain and fear.

"Now," Heather said, "tell us what happened to all the people and where the shadows came from."

"How would she know?" Crystal asked almost accusingly. Heather glared furiously at her and then looked back at Violet with a calm expression.

"Because she lives in Fuih Fuirfh and was there when it all happened."

Sapphire nodded at Crystal and looked back at Violet and Heather.

"Well…" Violet began nervously, scanning over team CMSN and at Heather, "It was about three days ago, that is, when it f_ully_ happened," she said slowly. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"It all started when the mayor, Cole Mackinaw, vanished from town. Nobody knew how, not even his bodyguard. He just disappeared. Some people thought that he left to take care of some secret matter without telling anyone, but he didn't return and nobody who worked for him had any records of any problems that needed to be solved. Not even his most trusted advisors and workers. So everyone was worried, but carried on with life, hoping that Cole would return. But he never did. Then, my neighbor, Rose, told me that her daddy had disappeared, and that same morning several people were reported missing, including Cole's wife and my own…my own father. And so, throughout the week, more and more people went missing and the whole village was in panic, locking their doors, lighting fires at night, staying up all night, standing vigil…But nothing seemed to work." Violet sighed and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Well, one night, I heard a scream and ran out of my room, only to see a shadow grab my mother and yank her out the window. I called for her and then saw her being dragged away toward the mountain. Her mouth was covered so she couldn't scream. But then I saw, by someone else's house, the door open and someone else be carried out. But it wasn't by a _shadow_…It was by a_ person_. A man."

"What did he look like," Heather asked. Her arms were crossed and her left foot was tapping on the muddy ground.

"Well…" Violet began slowly as she tried to remember, "He had a suit…It was black, and he had…I don't know, green hair? Maybe it was blue, it was really hard to tell because it was dark and he was running. But I know his hair wasn't black or brown, and it certainly wasn't blond. He had this…this symbol on both of his sleeves, but I can't exactly remember what it was. It was more like a design rather than a symbol, but I think he had a patch on his suit with the same design on it…so, I'm just calling it a symbol. I feel like it was an hourglass, or something like that. I'm not really sure. But I feel like he's part of a clan or something.

"Well, I screamed at him to drop her, and he turned around and gave me the scariest glare you could ever imagine…and then he yelled,

'Sleep while you can; Onyx is bright. The night is not,' and then he ran off and I was all alone.

"The whole village seemed empty, so I ran out and checked. Luckily, there were still a few people, but they were mostly the younger ones. I was third oldest. There was a seventeen year old name Claudia Bell, but she was sick, and then there was a fifteen year old named Zach Gold. He was brave, but there wasn't anything he could really do but help supply the things we all needed and keep order. Then there's me; Violet Gi. I'm thirteen, which is funny because us three oldest are all two years apart, but…" Violet stopped talking at everyone's bewildered stares. Even Heather looked mildly surprised.

"What?" Violet asked, somewhat frightened. Mara's mouth opened but didn't say anything. Sapphire took a deep breath and looked down. Nathen just stared.

"What…what are your father and mother's name?" Mara asked, her words trembling.

"Um…" Violet began, looking more and more frightened, "Jonathan and Lilac Gi?"

Mara's eyes widened and she stood up.

"Uncle Jonathan!" she cried walking over to Violet and putting her arms on her shoulders. "That's my uncle! You're…" she looked at Violet, "You're my cousin!"

Violet looked at Mara with wide, surprised eyes and opened her mouth to speak.

_No wonder they both looked somewhat similar! _Sapphire said to herself.

"B-but how?" Violet asked, confused. "I never knew I had a cousin!" Mara signed and looked deeply into her cousin's eyes.

"My mother's name is Peach Gi. Her husband's name was Brun, my father. Brun had a brother and a sister, Jonathan and Honeysuckle. Jonathan is your father, you said, so you're my cousin! But I never knew Uncle Jonathan was married."

"I-I knew I had an uncle named Brun who had a wife name Peach, who is my aunt, and I do have an aunt name Honeysuckle, but nobody ever told me that Aunt Peach and Uncle Brun had a child…even though you were born before me."

Violet's eyes welled up with tears. Mara patted her shoulder.

"I'm not sure why they didn't, but now you know." Mara signed and looked at everyone else. Heather had her stone face again.

"Peach never told me she had any in-laws," she said gruffly. Sapphire blinked and looked at her.

"You knew Peach?" she asked. Heather nodded.

"Yeah. She was the leader of our team and a good friend."

Mara looked up in new confusion.

"My mother was a huntress?" she asked, surprised.

Heather nodded.

"Yes. And a very good one, at that. She retired after she found out she was gonna to have you, so she wasn't a huntress all your life. Your father, however, had a passion for protecting others and kept his job, even after you were born. But he died on a mission when you were very small. So Peach hates huntsmen and huntresses now and denies the fact that she was ever one. She quarreled with the headmaster of Haven Academy and had strong resentment towards every academy. She blames them for killing her husband and leading every huntsman and huntress to slaughter. And then, when she finds out that someone she knows, and even those who she _doesn't_ know, are planning on becoming a huntsman or huntress, she tries to change their minds, and, sadly sometimes succeeds." Heather glanced at Violet and then, gaining another hardening look, continued. She narrowed her eyes at Mara.

"And then her daughter left to become just what she hated and left her all by herself, further hardening her heart," Heather finished, squinting hard at Mara. All eyes turned to Mara, who flushed and looked down with shame.

"Did you?" Crystal asked curiously. Mara only nodded, still looking down.

The storm had called down some, now only heavy rain and an occasional rumble of thunder or flash of lightning. The sky was now a mix of huge gray clouds, some small black clouds, and a couple dark gray clouds, all smushed together to cover the sky, leaving everything dim, rather than dark. A distant rumble of thunder sounded and Mara looked up. She looked softly at Violet and clear her throat.

"So you think that maybe they were all taken to the mountain?" Mara asked quietly. Violet, who wanted desperately for the family conversation to end was eager to answer.

"Yes," she replied firmly. "I think so. My mother was dragged there and my neighbor was dragged there. At least in that direction, anyway. But there's nothing but the mountains in that direction, that is, of course, Spring, the village on the other side of the mountains. That place was attacked by Grimm a few years back, and then rebuilt. There's nothing very special about that place other than Hazel Falls, the huge waterfall that comes from the top of the Hazel Mountains. But nothing was reported odd from that village, nor was the population hugely increased." Violet looked down and scraped her bare foot nervously at the mud on the ground and looked up again. Mara looked away.

"Wait, Mara. You live there, right?" Sapphire asked looking at Mara. Mara nodded slowly.

"Yes. I do."

Sapphire nodded and looked at Heather. Heather looked back at Sapphire, her arms still crossed. Sapphire continued to stare at Heather until Heather squinted, shrugged and then shook her head as if to say, "What?"

"Maybe there's a bunch of people trapped in the top of the mountain chained to the walls of a secret bunker like in that show I watched?" Crystal suggested eagerly, bending forward slightly and waving her hips from side to side. Sapphire scowled at Crystal and elbowed her.

"Crystal! This isn't a show! It's real life," she chided. Crystal frowned.

"No, I'm serious," Crystal said more solemnly, "What if there are a bunch of people trapped in the mountain? If everyone was taken to the mountain, wouldn't they be hidden of captured there?"

Everyone seemed to think for a moment.

"What for?" Mara asked quietly.

"Slavery. Spies. Bait for huntsmen and huntresses," Heather answered flatly. Mara nodded slowly and looked down again.

"So we destroy the rest of those shadow-things in the village and then go search the mountain for people and bring them back to Fuih Fuirfh?" Crystal asked simply.

"Well, yes," Heather said, "But we need to find a way to actually find the people in the mountain. They're most likely hidden, from all my experiences."

Crystal nodded.

"Well, we could search for signs. My sister Jewels taught me that some secret places have a special code. Like a certain rock pattern that you have to make, or a word code," Crystal said with a smile.

"Well, what if there isn't one," Sapphire asked. "Jewels has only been a huntress for a year. She might not be accurate."

"Or what if the inside is full of guards and we get attacked and taken?" Violet asked, worried.

"Or what if there is a wrong way to figure out the code and the thing explodes or something," Mara asked.

"What if there are no more what ifs," Heather said angrily as she uncrossed her arms and faced the mountains in the distance.

"We should split up," Heather continued. "Crystal, Nathen, and Violet. I want you three to go back to the village and rid it off those shadows."

Before she could go on, Crystal angrily interrupted her.

"Hey! I don't to miss out on any secret bunkers!" She crossed her arms and lifted her chin in defiance. "You'll need me."

Heather gave Crystal a cold glare and crossed her arms again.

"And Nathen will need you to help him kill all those shadows." Heather looked away from Crystal and faced Sapphire and Mara.

"You two," she said demandingly, "You guys are coming with me to the mountains. We're going to try to find those people and their captors' hiding place. Nightfall isn't too far away, so if could be night by the time you're ready for whatever task I just assigned. Don't hesitate to sleep, unless it's a stupid idea at the time. And don't ask what I mean by that. It'd be stupid if you didn't. "

Sapphire and Mara exchanged glances and then nodded affirmatively.

"To the Hazel Mountains?" Sapphire said as they looked towards the huge misty mountains ahead.

"To the Hazel Mountains," Mara said solemnly and the three began on their way.


	19. Hidden Figures

The three reached the mountains in about two hours. Not much was said during their trip but idle conversations that ended not long after they started. Mara didn't feel very comfortable talking to Heather or Sapphire while Heather was around and Sapphire vice versa.

The rain had stopped entirely and now the air was damp and cool with the fresh scent of rain lingering in it. The cloudy sky was gray and dreary, the darkest clouds gone and now and replaced with gray and silver clouds. A few clouds had some small openings, letting in small rays of soft sunlight shooting through; light yellow near the top, and then a faded light color that trailed off as the beams got closer and closer to the ground. The horizon, though hidden by clouds, was glowing bright orange. It was already sunset.

As they neared the cliffside of the mountain, all conversation ceased. The cliffside was rocky and dusty, small shelf-like ledges in the rock serving as a surface for the rocks near the top that had fallen, holding them up. Some of those rocks threatened to fall any moment as some of them balanced on the edges and on top of other rocks. Heather halted and raised her hand for the others to stop. Sapphire and Mara exchanged glances and walked up to Heather.

"It has to be around here somewhere," Heather said as she looked around the base of the mountain.

"What makes you say that?" Sapphire asked looking around as Heather did. Heather glared flatly at Sapphire and then at the ground by her feet.

"Because," she said as she bent down on her knee and traced a foot-shaped dent in the dirt with her finger, "There's an obvious mark over here." Sapphire observed it and then stepped back, her face puzzled with surprised recognition. Mara squatted besides Heather and nodded slightly. The print was the bottom of a boot, a strange design on the bottom. It was a rectangle with an x crossing over it. There were several small vertical lines in the top of the x and then a line going through the middle and into the bottom of the x with several lines in a horizontal position on the bottom of it.

"It looks like a boot print or something," Mara said. Heather nodded.

"And it was deep enough not to be washed away by the rain and mud. Probably made by a fat person or someone in a hurry," Heather continued, standing up. She wiped her hands on her pants and turned around, squinting at Sapphire.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked. Sapphire met eyes with Heather and shook her head.

"Sorry," she said slowly, "It's just that…that I think, uh…I think that I might just…"

"What? Speak up, woman!" Heather said angrily, "Otherwise we can't know what you mean." Sapphire cleared her throat and nodded.

"Sorry. It's just, I think I might recognize this boot print-thingy."

Heather and Mara both looked each other, Mara shrinking away at the sight of Heather's piercing gaze.

"How's that?" Heather asked flatly, crossing her arms again. Sapphire looked down at the print, them back up at Heather, narrowing her eyes.

"The design on the bottom of the person who left this's boot. I've seen it before. The problem is, I've seen it on a _lot _of people's boots. Even my own, at one time, of course, that was a while ago."

Heather was staring suspiciously at Sapphire now, and Mara was looking at her nervously.

"How…how is it…that you -you have seen it before. Including on your own boot, er…or shoe," Mara asked, fingering her short brown skirt nervously.

"Well, a lot of my neighbors and friends, including my sister, have this design on the bottoms of there shoes and boots, and sometimes on their clothing or weapons. I have it on my quiver, if you didn't notice." She gestured to her quiver that was on her back. The same symbol was on it and it was colored deep shades of crimson, dark blue, and dark purple. Sapphire continued,

"It's a part of an organization that my uncle works at. I have been considered a part of it, but I was never full in. I received an invitation to go to their top base, but I declined it so that I could go to Beacon. Not sure why one of their footprints would be here."

Mara and Heather stared at Sapphire; Mara nervous and surprised; Heather suspicious and unamused. Sapphire felt her cheeks grow hot and an unsettling feeling of uncomfortableness.

_Why are they looking at me like this? Why do I suddenly feel uncomfortable and nervous? _

"Sapphire," Heather said, her voice hard and flat, "See if you can get us in the mountain." She nudged her head towards the mountain.

Sapphire turned around and faced the mountain, scaring the rocky cliffside. A shred of recognition of the formation of the rocks, small shrubs, and the large boulder balancing just above her head, came to her. She sorted through her memories, trying to remember where she had seen this, and then she remembered.

"This may sound a little silly," Sapphire said, somewhat to herself, "But this looks like a play set I had when I was younger."

Mara's face twisted with confusion and Heather shot her head and continued to observe Sapphire with a flat expression.

"It was a puzzle I had to figure out. My uncle made me figure it out on my own, and then I had to master it. I never got the hang of it 'till I was…I don't know, like seven?" Sapphire chuckled at the memory, but then her smile faded as she remembered that she was on a mission and she had to figure this out. She stepped forward and looked down at two small shrubs that stood across from each other on either side of the vertical crack in the stone. A third shrub was about a foot away in line with the left shrub. She knelt down, still thinking that it was a ridiculous idea, but still curious, and twisted the third and first shrub left, and then twisted the second shrub right. She was surprised when the shrubs actually twisted like a knob in place, not uprooting or breaking. Then she stood up again and looked up at the boulder, took off her quiver, slung it over the boulder and then, after taking a deep breath, pushed her quiver at the center as if trying to push it into the boulder. And it _did. _As soon as she did, the quiver melted into the rock, a light blue glow outlining it as it sunk in. Sapphire, who was surprised and excited, gasped and then looked back at Heather and Mara.

As she did, there was a deep rumbling sound behind her, and then the large crack in moved slowly over, giving way to a doorway cut neatly into the stone. Mara gaped. Heather squinted at Sapphire.

"So you know how to get into to this obviously secret doorway," Heather said, sounding somewhat mad and her words building more emphasis as she spoke, "You have the same symbol on _your_ quiver as the boot print on the ground possibly left by the people who stole the villagers; Your _uncle_ taught you how to do this code-thing, and, according to Violet's description of the man who stole her neighbor, might of had blue hair like you, _and_ you seem to know somethings about this 'organization'." Heather swallowed at looked at Sapphire with a raised brow and a tucked lip, "Do you not think me and Mara have an idea that you are part of this organization?"

Sapphire thought for a moment and then she realized it. Her eyes widened.

"Oh, but I'm not! I was simply raised like this!" She looked around and looked at Mara with pleading eyes.

"And I'm sure there's a reason for what he's doing."

"You mean stealing innocent people from their peaceful town and locking them up in a mountain?" Heather said with a piercing look. Sapphire looked down and frustration knitted her brow.

"Well, maybe their bad people!" Sapphire said rather loudly with anger, surprised at her zeal to defend her uncle's organization. She calmed down and then added quietly,

"Maybe it isn't him. Maybe it's someone else."

Heather frowned.

"Does your uncle have blue hair?" she asked. Sapphire looked down.

"Yes," she said slowly.

"And what's his name," Heather asked sharply.

"Onyx Lante."

"Didn't the man who took Violet's neighbor say that 'onyx is bright and the night is not?'"

"Well, yes, but-" Sapphire searched for words and couldn't find any. Heather nodded slowly and looked hard at Sapphire.

"Ah, yes. Blue hair and his name is Onyx. Not at all like what that guy said." Heather's voice brimmed with sarcasm.

"Look," Sapphire said, desperate to change the subject, "We should go in and find everyone." Seeing Heather's face, Sapphire added,

"And I'm not part of them, okay. Even if that _is _my uncle, I'm not going to defend him if he is doing wrong."

Heather rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"Fine. Whatever. Let's go."

Mara pulled out a small, unlit torch and then a small, red-orange dust crystal that produced a dim glow from a small satchel by her side. She hit the crystal on the end of the torch and then put the crystal away as the the torch lit and a warm light pulsed from it.

"Thanks," Heather mumble gruffly and she began walking into the doorway. The she stopped and turned around, facing Sapphire.

"Should I lead the way, or should you, since you seem to know a lot about this place." There was anger in her voice. Sapphire fidgeted under Heathers eyes and looked away.

_This is worse than looking at Tyn, _Sapphire inwardly joked.

"I think I might know the way," Sapphire said finally, "So, Mara, I could use the torch." Mara quickly handed Sapphire the torch and then followed her as Sapphire walked inside of the tunnel with Heather following.

"Be on your guard," Heather whispered to Mara.

Sapphire turned around and saw her quiver, slung over the same boulder, but on the other side, and pulled it off and put it back on and walked on, the small torch providing enough light to see a few feet out around and in front of her.

The tunnel was not wide, nor was it that tall; one car could fit in it, and a large box truck could drive through. The walls were plain stone, and the floor an odd mix of dirt, dead grass, and rock.

Suddenly, Sapphire stopped, causing Heather to stumble and bump into Mara, who was about to whine her protest when Heather swung around with her finger to her lips.

"What is it?" Heather hissed into Sapphire ear. Sapphire rubbed her ear and then whispered back,

"I heard something!"

The trio looked ahead and saw a dim light headed towards them and footsteps approaching. Heather stood up straight and her hand went to the handle of her whip.

Sapphire tensed, but stood still, her left hand fingering her boomerang. Mara held her gun with both hands and stood ready.

The dim light came closer and then stopped, right in from of them. Mara could see the shadow of someone's face and the light of another torch. Sapphire held out the torch and gasped at who she saw.

"Kendalyn?!" she cried in disbelief. Kendalyn, whose face was now exposed by the light of Sapphire's torch and her own, grinned.

"Sapphire!" she said with equal excitement, "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming! Ray said you refused the invitation and instead went to…" Kendalyn fingered her lips with her index finger as she thought.

"Beacon Academy, right?"

Seeing Sapphire nod made her continue, "Did you change your mind or something? Did they invite you again and you decided to after all?"

Sapphire, who nearly forgot that Heather and Mara were behind her, but that she was still on a mission, answered smoothly,

"Not exactly. Onyx said I could do anything with this thing as long as I don't hurt it. I vowed not to."

Mara was gaping at the fact that Sapphire knew this person, and Heather was glaring at Kendalyn, who had just looked behind Sapphire and saw the two women. Kendalyn flinched as she saw Heather, who's glare looked quite frightening in the partial shadows.

"Uh, who are they?" Kendalyn asked, gesturing to Heather and Mara. Sapphire's eyes widened and she quickly thought up a reply, an excuse to allow them to go on without being attacked or having to attack.

"Oh!" Sapphire said as if eager to explain, "Some more P.I.s."

Heather raised her eyebrow at Mara and Mara shrugged. Kendalyn nodded and looked over the two again.

"From where?"

"E.F.," Sapphire answered simply, nodding to the two behind her.

"They were on H.M. and I have 'em. Lieutenant Ray requested their I.A., so I'm doing that." Sapphire smiled and then frowned and elbowed Heather roughly. Heather pretended to whine in pain and then looked down with despaired sorrow. Sapphire was impressed at Heathers acting skills and inwardly grinned. Outwardly, she muttered something harsh to Mara and Heather over her shoulder and then turned back to Kendalyn, shaking her head. Kendalyn nodded and then, after embracing Sapphire and patting her back began to walk off to where they had entered. Before she was out of sight, she turned around and opened her mouth to say something, and then smiled.

"By the way, Jay is with me, now."

Sapphire laughed and then smiled brightly.

"Good for you!" she said, the excitement showing in her eyes, smile, and voice not at all fake, but very real, "I knew he would open up!"

Kendalyn nodded and then, after tucking a loosed strand of her golden hair behind her ear, said,

"You bet! Have a nice day. And it was good to see you again, Sapphy the Laughy." Kendalyn said the name with mock formality. Sapphire laughed.

"You too, Bendalyn," she shot back with a smile. Kendalyn smirked and then answered back with a silly high-pitch voice that showed obvious strain.

"I thought you quit that name, Sapphire!"

Sapphire gave her an odd look that showed a mix of laughter and confusion and then mouthed a silent,

"Oookay…"

Kendalyn laughed again and then turned around and disappeared into the darkness with a smile.

Sapphire's face went from cheerful to solemn, her smile fading as she realized that she had been quite friendly to this stranger that Heather and Mara did not know. Heather's face turned face from sorrowful to angry. Mara's face didn't change at all.

"What was all that?!" Heather hissed angrily as they continued walking. Sapphire answered with a solemn, expressionless face as she walked, acting more like Heather than she did herself.

"We knew each other a while back," was all Sapphire said.

"And what is, 'P.I.? Or E.F., or H.M. and I.A.?!"

"Prisoner Initiate; Emerald Forest; Huntress Mission; Imprisonment and Audience," Sapphire answered flatly, switching her torch from her right hand to her left.

Heather made an indistinct sound that crossed between a mumble and a frustrated grumble.

"Wonder how you knew that," she said sarcastically.

Sapphire felt a surge of hot anger go through her, but then felt it cool.

_She's just suspicious because I know so much about this place and so far, the people in it. She's afraid that I might double-cross them or something. _Sapphire said to herself.

_You can't blame her. _


	20. Battle of Shadows

"So that's why I'm proud to bear my family name," Crystal said with pride as she, Violet, and Nathen walked towards the village. Violet was staring at Crystal, a smile brimming on her lips. Nathen hung his head low, his hand covering most of his face and some of his fingers rubbing on and around his nose and eyes as he shook his head.

"Why, Crystal?" he asked, lifting his head and lowing his hand, giving Crystal a _seriously? _face and holding his hands out in front of him. Crystal grinned and clicked her teeth, shaking her head.

"Because! Minkh sounds like minx, and a minx is an a pert girl, and a pert girl means me! And, if you're so blind you can't notice the grass you're walking on, then I guess it makes more sense that you haven't fallen head over heels for my insane beauty."

"Crystal please!" Nathen almost shouted, looking at her with wide, angry eyes. "Just because you're…physical attractive, it doesn't mean you're totally attractive. That, or your just not meant for me, but I'm pretty sure that's not it." He shook his head and looked down, frowning.

"Oh," said Crystal quietly with an impish grin, "So it's about what's on the inside, huh? No wonder you _like_ Mara. 'Cause if it were what was on the outside, then Mara wouldn't stand a chance! She ain't got nothin' on her!" Crystal giggled and elbowed Violet a little harder than necessary. "Right?"

Violet laughed a nervous, uneasy laugh and looked up at Crystal slowly.

"Uh, yeah!" She looked down and thought for a moment, "I think?"

Crystal laughed heartily at Nathen's frown and then patted Violet on the head and ruffled her hair.

"Oh, I love this girl!" Crystal laughed. Violet smiled shyly and felt a happiness fill her. This girl, a huntress in training who was four years older than her liked her! Violet beamed, mostly to herself and walked a little closer to Crystal.

The conversation ceased as Fuih Fuirfh came into view and they passed its second sign, proclaiming the town's name in slightly weathered paint. The haunting silence and the emptiness of the town bringing a little gloom over the group. Nathen signed and then walked in front of Violet, his tall shadow cast over her.

"Violet," he said putting his calloused hand on her slim shoulder, "You need to stay here while me and Crystal fight off these…shadow-things, okay?"

Violet looked down as if disappointed and signed.

"But isn't there anything I can do to help?" she asked with a pleading voice. Nathen hesitated, not wanting to make her sad.

"Uh…you could, um…well…" He looked around and then shook his head. "Sorry, Violet. You can't really do anything, I don't think. At least not right now. Just stay here and don't get hurt, okay?" He smiled lightly. Violet signed and sat down.

"Okay," she said gloomily. Nathen sighed and then walked over to where Crystal was standing by the nude-woman fountain.

"Ah," she said as if Nathen's arrival had been a cue, "Real hottie, ain't she?"

Nathen frowned and looked away, wishing the statue on the fountain was something else. Crystal grinned at his groan, stirring a mischief inside her.

"The architect did a real good job with the curves and bumps!" Crystal continued with praise, "Architect was lucky if he was a guy!"

"Crystal, please…" he said, somewhat to himself, covering his eyes with his hand. Crystal smiled and turned around, her hands behind her back and a childish innocence on her face.

"C'mon Nathen!" she said with overactive cheerfulness, "Let's slay some shadows!"

Nathen nodded, now looking at the house that had fallen to the ground earlier.

"Alright. We just gotta find them," he said looking over the small trails and bullet holes he had left in his eager escape from the second shadow.

"That's easy!" Crystal said eagerly, "We just have to go in a bunch of random houses!" She spun on tiptoe, her arms still behind her back. Nathen muttered something and then walked up to a house, opening the door and disappearing inside. Crystal had just began walking into another house, when there was a loud smash and then Nathen's panicked voice,

"Crystal!" he shouted desperately as he sprinted at full speed away from the house he had just entered, "Yeah, they're there all right!"

He jumped and flipped over a cart of apples and landed on his feet, bolting through an open gate's fence, and then tripping over a barrel in his haste, tearing through a garden and then landing in a small, shallow pond of water, sitting up and shaking his head to get the water out.

Crystal, seeing the dark blur of a shadow follow Nathen, ran eagerly towards it, jumping in the same way as Nathen over the apple cart, jumped up and bounced high off of the canvass of a fruit and vegetable stand and then, springing towards the shadow quite high into the air, flipping a few times as she gained momentum landed right on top of the shadow, at least where it was running. She fell right through it and landed hard on Nathen. She stood up quickly and saw another shadow, no, two, coming right at them. Crystal leaped up and ran towards them, eager to end them. They blurred towards her, following her as she raced away, using aura to go much faster that without. Nathen, who had gotten up, ran and found several buckets. Running as fast as he could, dodging and ducking shadows that were chasing Crystal, he reached the fountain and began filling the buckets with water, setting them by his feet. Looking around, he saw more and more shadows creeping out from windows, doors, and cellars of the houses everywhere, and making their way towards him and Crystal. He glanced around, looking for more water. The fountain seemed to be the only open source at the moment. Crystal glanced around and saw more. Lots more. They were everywhere; the air; the houses; the roads. Crystal took a deep breath.

"Nathen! Distract them!" she hollered as she stopped abruptly in her tracks and skidded to a halt, ducking as a shadow flew over were her head had once been and then jumped backwards, flipping, and landing on her feet, only to jump to dodge one that sped under her.

"Crystal!" Nathen called, dodging shadows and splashing them with buckets of water, "I've got water! Send them this way!"

Crystal nodded and grinned.

The sky was now bright red, the clouds looking like puffs of dust against its bright color. The sunset was quite beautiful, with the mountains and all, but its presence went unnoticed as Crystal and Nathen fought off the shadowy Grimm.

Crystal slid sideways to dodge another shadow that sped past and rolled into a somersault, and ten ran as fast as she could towards the fountain.

The shadows immediately followed her.

Nathen, refilling his buckets so fast that they kept on sloshing water onto his shirtfront, prepared himself for what was coming.

"Here they come!" Crystal shrieked, running so fast she seemed blurry. In one swift movement, Nathen scooted the buckets onto a long wooden board that was laying on the ground, and kicked a large rock underneath it so that the empty side of the board lifted up like a seesaw. Crystal tried to stop, skidding to a halt. Her momentum caused her to go backwards, which she turned into a back handspring and landed on her feet, right on the unoccupied part of the board.

The weighed down section of the board flew upwards, springing the buckets forward and sloshing a wave of water onto Crystal and a few shadows by her and Nathen.

The air blowing against the buckets kept the majority of the water inside of the buckets during their flight, and then, the buckets sloshed all over the shadows, melting them like butter on a hot stovetop.

The rest of the shadows, which were rushing towards Nathen and Crystal, were nearing them with blurring speed.

Crystal swung around and sliced the statue of the woman in half, water spraying out of it like a geyser. The speeding shadows all received a good coating of water as they passed it, then melted soon after. A few of the shadow went around the fountain, but were immediately slashed with more water from the buckets that Crystal and Nathen had refilled and dumped on them. They, too melted, and then they were gone.

Silence.

Crystal and Nathen looked around, looking for more shadows, but didn't see any.

"Yeah!" Crystal shouted triumphantly. She swung around and held out her hands for a high five. Nathen raised a brow and clapped his hands on hers.

"Ha!" Crystal said, dancing a jig, "In your face, weird Grimm Shadow Thing!"

"Hey," said Nathen, who had walked over to a farther part of the village. "There's more village down here!" He jumped and disappeared from view.

Crystal hurried to reach him, and saw that there was indeed more town, downhill.

Crystal jumped and moved her feet sideways so she skidded down the hill, a cloud of dust and small remnants of dead grass and green grass kicked up behind her. She landed on the bottom of the hill, looking around. Then she spotted Nathen, sitting on a stump. There were several stumps and a few trees in this area, and the houses around them had stacks of chopped wood piled against them.

"Must be the woodcutter's zone, huh?" Crystal said as she walked up to him and sitting down on a stump next to Nathen. Nathen nodded looking around.

"I guess." He looked up the hill and then at Crystal.

"Do you think that was hard?"

Crystal slapped her thighs and laughed hard and loud.

"Of course not, silly!" she giggled, "Otherwise I wouldn't be down here talking to you. What'd ya think? I would come down here and chat while the shame of my loss is weighing on my chest like a fat guy with an eating disorder? Not a chance!" She smiled and looked away from Nathen as if looking for something else to do.

_As if doing that wasn't enough activity for you. _Nathen said to himself.

"We should make sure there aren't anymore shadows around before Heather, Mara and Sapphire get back," he said looking around and then walking towards the hill, "Then we can eat and then get some sleep."

Crystal looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"Whatever…" was her only response.


	21. PIs

Sapphire walked on, Heather and Mara behind her through the dark tunnel.

"Where does this lead?" Heather asked, irritation in her voice. Sapphire shook her head and sighed, wishing Heather wasn't so made and suspicious, but knew why she was and knew there wasn't much she could do.

"Well, if what I'm basing the way I'm going on is right," she began, recalling the activity she had played so many times in her childhood, "we should stop at a dead end of some sort pretty soon."

"And then what!" Heather asked, angry.

"Then I do something special and we go deeper into this place," Sapphire answered patiently, though her lips were pursed with anger.

"Aaand we have secrets again. Won't tell me what your doing," Heather said again. Sapphire ignored her and walked on, holding her torch harder. Then she stopped suddenly, Heather bumping into her again and then Mara bumping into Heather.

"Enough of that!" Heather said angrily after they got back into a line. Sapphire looked back at Heather with a mad face.

"We're here," she said, clearly agitated. She held up the torch to reveal a large stone wall, blocking off any way of moving forward. She looked around and then saw it. A large area around the stone wall was caked with dirt and smeared with red clay. Sapphire walked over to it and rubbed some of it off. Under it was a small circle with the x symbol on it. Sapphire rubbed her dirt and clay smeared finger in a circular motion, outlining the circle, and then covered it back up with the clay and dirt around it.

"Now, you guys need to look sad and helpless, okay?" Sapphire said, looking down at her feet. "Just in case we encounter anybody. And you need to be perfectly quiet, alright? The area we are about to fall in is very sensitive to noise."

Mara gasped.

"Fall in?!" she cried, but her noise was cut off as the ground under her, Heather, and Sapphire suddenly gave out and the three of them fell. But the fall was very brief, for a moment later, they were on hard floor. Sapphire nodded to both of them and then walked forward.

The hall around them was a little wider with torches hanging on the wall, providing a good amount of light. The floor was smooth stone, rather than a bumpy mess of rock, dirt and grass; the walls and ceiling were also made of smooth stone, and it was much quieter than when they were in the first tunnel. The crackle of the fire from the torches was all that could be heard. Sapphire turned and nodded to Heather and Mara, and then began walking forward. The sounds of the trio's boots sounded strangely loud, the sound echoing through the hallway. Heather looked about ready to explode if nothing happened; Mara looked like a frightened child, and Sapphire looked cautious, but casual all at the same time. The three of them walked, going down stairs and walking through doorways and corridors. Some of the ones they entered were completely invisible or locked by some sort of code, which Sapphire managed to get them through.

They walked on for what seemed like hours, until Heather stopped, making Mara, who was tired and absent minded, bumping into her.

"Let's sleep," she said randomly. Sapphire turned around, confused.

"What?" she asked.

"Let's sleep," Heather repeated, "I'm tired and pretty sure that it's late. Let's sleep."

Sapphire raised a brow.

"Okay..," she said warily, "Where?"

"Right here, if it isn't dangerous," Heather answered, seeming very careless at the moment. Sapphire looked around and then shrugged.

"I guess right here's fine," she said slowly, "I mean, nobody really travels this part unless they're bringing in P.I.s. But I haven't received a notification that they found anymore for the time being...So it should be okay for the night."

"Are we...sleeping on the ground?" Mara asked timidly. Heather glared at her.

"What else did you expect?" she said bitterly. Mara nodded and looked at the hard floor.

_It's better that ice, _Mara tried to reason to herself.

It was early in the morning when they were all snapped awake by the sound of walking. Although it was not loud, it echoed strangely in the hallway and made the three alert people wake immediately. They scrambled to their feet, Sapphire in the front and Heather and Mara in the back in a line behind Sapphire.

Then they saw three shadows of people on the wall in front of them around a corner. Sapphire tensed and then relaxed, exhaling slowly and closing her eyes. Then she continued walking, Heather and Mara following warily after her. Their hair was messy from their slumber, Mara trying to smooth it down and Heather slapping her hand away.

"Better for the whole victim look," Heather hissed.

Then, three people, one boy with brown hair and oddly light blue eyes, a woman with curled black hair that spilled over her left shoulder and silver eyes, and Kendalyn came into view around the corner, all holding weapons but Kendalyn.

"Miss Lante," the woman with black hair said, a respectful tone in her voice, "Who is that with you?"

Sapphire nodded slightly to the boy and woman, and then smiled at Kendalyn, who winked back with a sly grin.

"P.I.s from the E.F.," Sapphire said with a controlled voice, "They are requested for an A.I. with Ray for information on the Hibrosekis."

Kendalyn snickered and looked casual as the woman and boy looked at her.

"P.I. transfer necessary?" the woman asked. Sapphire nodded briskly.

"Affirmative."

The woman nodded to the boy and Kendalyn, then walked over to Heather and Mara, poking Mara's arm lightly and then looking at Heather, who glared furiously back at her.

"Jay, give me a hand with these two," the woman said sharply, her voice smooth and soft, grabbing Mara roughly and shoving her into Heather, causing them both to move forward a little.

"Watch it," Heather growled through gritted teeth.

"Yes, Ebony," Jay said quickly running the other side of Mara and Heather and then taking hold of both of their arms. "You're not aloud to hurt or be rough with P.I.s unless they start to fight or do not follow protocol. Even if you really want to ."

"Silver eyes, eh?" Heather snorted to Ebony, who quickly pinched Heather's wrist.

"Hush up, or you'll be getting nothing but rotten stew and moldy bread for food," Ebony hissed at Heather. Heather opened her mouth to reply, but Ebony immediately struck out with a fist to punch Heather right in the face. Heather quickly ducked and ripped her hand free of Jay's loose grip, returning the attempt at a punch. Ebony simply ducked as Heather had and then, pulling out a gun from her belt and clicking something, smirked and stepped back. Her black gun clicked and parts of it moved and extended smoothly and then the gun was a strange, wide sword with a hole near the hilt. Ebony pointed it threateningly at Heather, glaring at her with her bright silver eyes.

"Ebony!" Jay shouted angrily, leaving Heather and Mara and then walking over to Ebony, putting a hand on her shoulder and his other hand on the hilt of her sword.

"You can't do that! I know your new and you don't like…difficult people, but _you _have to follow protocol too, or you can't be here!" He sighed and left Ebony, whose angry grinning face had melted into a disappointed and gloomy face. She sighed and closed her eyes, clicking her sword again and transforming it into its original gun form and tucking it into her belt.

"Sorry," she mumbled. Jay nodded and smiled at Kendalyn, who was looking dreamily up at him with admiration. He scratched the top of his spiky caramel-colored hair and blushed, looking down with a smile.

Sapphire stared at Jay's oddly light blue eyes.

_They're so…so…light. It's almost unnatural. _she said to herself, even though she had seen him so many times before.

"C'mon, Jay," said Ebony, sounding exasperated. Jay nodded and hooked arms with Kendalyn and then walking over to Heather and Mara, unhooking his arm and then gently taking Heather and Mara's right arm and Kendalyn stood behind them.

"Let's go," Ebony said, leading Heather and Mara backwards. The five of them disappeared down the hallway, leaving Sapphire behind.

Heather walked on, Jay holding her right arm and Ebony holding her left, and sighed, glancing from side to side at her surroundings and the people who accompanied her.

"So, uh," Heather said gruffly, "Where are you taking us?"

Kendalyn giggled as if it were funny.

"To the jail, obviously," she said, her alto voice a little higher. Heather frowned.

"Who's in there?" Heather asked, still sounding bitter. Ebony looked at Heather with a tired look.

"P.I.s," she said quietly.

"I'm not a criminal, so why are you bringing me to jail?" Heather demanded.

"You're a P.I.!" Kendalyn said and then laughed. Heather muttered something under her breath and then remained silent.

"Um…" Mara said quietly, "what do we have to…um, do?"

Jay smiled lightly and looked ahead.

"You have to see Ray and he'll ask you where the Hibrosekis is. If you don't answer him truthfully, then you join the others and get asked the same question every day." His voice was not threatening or angry sounding, but somewhat pleasant.

"The what?" Mara asked, confused. Jay looked at her with an almost sad expression. He sighed and looked down.

"I wouldn't try the whole clueless thing," he said, "The last time someone did that, Onyx had all his meals delayed and then only gave him rotten leftovers and brackish water until he agreed to tell him where the Hibrosekis was. But then he managed to kill himself to escape his deal with Onyx." Jay's face took on a look of pity.

"Poor guy, breaking his promise so that he wouldn't have to give away his village's secret or show weakness." He looked down again and sighed. Then he looked back up and looked perky and nice again.

"Well, anyway. The longer nobody answers him, the worse the food gets. It usually starts with bread made with flour, water, salt and oil, a carrot or two, and water. Then, the bread gets more and more stale, the carrots more bruised and battered, and the water more warm and brackish. It's not very fun. Then, when some new people come in, they go back to fresh bread, good carrots, and clean water. And the cycle repeats every month or three weeks, depending on how many people come in. We only bring people we suspect might have an idea where the Hibrosekis is, but we've had almost no luck. Some people are just stubborn, I guess."

Mara's eyes were wide.

"You mean," she said, looking more curious than she did frightened, "Nobody's told you anything?"

Jay furled his brow and thought for a moment, then his face lit up as he remembered something. He pointed upward as answered.

"Yes! There was a little girl…I think her name was Lily or something. She was pretty young, but she said that she had seen a glowing pink and black flower in her mother's kitchen. Onyx said it might be it, and when we found her house, we did find a wilted pink and black flower in an old pot. It matched the description of the Hibrosekis so well, we're pretty sure that was it. But it was dead, so it couldn't do anything." Jay looked disappointed. Mara couldn't help but ask,

"What do you need the Hibrosekis for?"

"Onyx said he needed it for something important. He didn't say what, just said it was urgent. And of course, there was no good reason to say no, so we search. I really wonder what it is." Jay talked to Mara more like a good friend than a jailer and Mara liked that. It really made her feel less scared.

"During curfew," Jay continued looking eager, "Me and my roommates talk about it. I know it seems childish, most of us being from around 18 to 25, but seriously! It's really fun and exciting. Some of us think it's for an evil spell, and some of us think it's for a drug, and some of us have the craziest idea that it's for a lady friend, but that seems waaaaay too unlikely, you know, with all this trouble of finding it. Unless she's a real angel." Jay chuckled.

_He seems rather childish… _Mara said to herself.

"Childish indeed," said Heather flatly, glancing darkly at Jay and then scowling at Ebony. "Spoiled child, trying to attack when she doesn't like what she sees; Little boy trying to look cool in front of his girlfriend by 'settling' an 'uproar'." Heather snorted like an old bull and looked away. Jay looked at Heather and sighed.

"Look," he said, still sounding friendly, "I know you don't like us, but just…try to cooperate." He looked down and then back up.

"Please?" he said quietly. Heather snorted and looked away.

"Onyx does what he does because he thinks its important."

Heather glared at him and looked away again.

"Sure he thinks its important," Heather mumbled, "It's _his _desires he's fulfilling, after all."

Jay looked down and then back up, looking at Kendalyn.

"Kendal?" he said. Kendalyn nodded.

"Let's just escort them over to the others and get this over with." She said, taking Heather's hand and walking forward. Heather looked at Kendalyn, then at Jay, and then glanced at Ebony. She walked with them without resistance. Mara looked defeated as she followed Heather and the others. Heather looked down at her whip in her belt, looked at her surroundings, and mentally planned her escape. She looked again at her captors and Mara, and then took a deep breath.

Suddenly, Heather punched both her fist forward as hard as she could, with her aura. Ebony and Kendalyn were jerked forwards, not expecting it. As soon as Heather had freed her arms, she turned around and quickly kicked hard at Jay. He dodged just in time, only to receive a blow to his cheek by another punch. Heather began an array of kicks and punches as Jay was against the wall, Jay struggling to dodge. He managed to dodge most of them, though still getting hit once in a while. He finally slid out from under Heather and pulled out a large mace. It was black with slits and portions that were a dark, shiny blue. He swung it around at her, and Heather dodged it, getting hit once on the shoulder. She recoiled and leaped at him, pulling out her whip and lashing it out at him. He jumped into the air in a surprisingly high flip, pushing off the wall with his legs and landing on his arms like a handstand and did a back handspring. Heather landed back on her feet and looked at Jay, her whip ready.

Meanwhile, Mara was dodging and dealing blows and bullets, shooting rounds at Kendalyn and Ebony. Ebony could only hold up her arms, which were covered in some kind of strong metal, to protect herself. But Kendalyn seemed to dodge them fairly easily with incredible speed. Her eyes were glowing a bright golden as she dodged and ducked Mara's bullets.

_Semblance?_

"At least this is a small hallway!" Mara yelled through the chaos, clicking her gun and turning it to her small daggers. She lunged forward and plunged the daggers at Ebony. Ebony backhanded one of the daggers, but the other sliced cleanly through the sleeve on her shoulder and some of her skin. Thanks to her aura, the slice was not deep, but a little blood began to trickled slightly from it and stain her sliced sleeve. She growled and lay flat on her back as Mara ran at her again. Mara, who had been expecting to hit Ebony, flew forward with her own momentum and crashed into Heather, who was about to stab Jay with the sharp blade at the end of her spiky whip, that's spikes were now engaged. The whip missed and Jay dodged it, rolling on the floor.

"What was that?!" Heather shouted, jumping off the floor. She cursed out loud and spit, recovering and picking up her whip. Mara got up off the floor and looked behind her. Kendalyn was standing, smiling and her eyes not glowing anymore, watching Ebony and Mara fight.

Mara turned around and shoved her hand into Ebony's face, just as Ebony was about to punch her, and pushed her the other way. Ebony flipped and landed hard, but stood up again and threw her sword at Mara. Mara ducked and saw it fly towards Jay, who dodged it. But while he had been dodging it, Heather had lashed her whip at him. It wrapped around his legs, the spikes digging into them, and he fell over, unable to stand. Heather swung her whip all around the small hallway, smashing Jay all over the walls, ceiling and floor. Then a light blue lightning zapped around him.

"No, aura, buddy!" Heather yelled at him as she threw Jay down and released him from her whip. He crashed onto the floor and lay there, not moving.

Mara was nimbly dodging Ebony's clumsy moves, though they were hard, and seemed to be beating her. Ebony had retrieved her sword and was now slashing it at Mara. Then Mara, who had an idea, suddenly disappeared from sight.

"What?!" Ebony yelled angrily, looking around. Then a line of bullets from behind ripped through the air towards Ebony. She turned around and was met by several bullets in front of her. She tried do dodge them, but a few hit her and Ebony felt her aura immediately decrease with every bullet.

_She turned invisible and went behind me! _Ebony realized, and felt her aura go down with a gray light. Pain pulsed from her arm where she had been shot.

"I can't get hit!" she yelled out loud and ran behind Kendalyn.

Kendalyn sensed a presence behind her and dodged out of the way as Heather flew past with a punch and landed in front of Mara, who quickly stopped shooting. Heather pulled out her whip and whipped it at Kendalyn and Ebony, the spiky line filling every place in the small hallway. Kendalyn dodged it, again with impressive speed and glowing eyes.

"Why are your eyes glowing?!" Heather shouted as she engaged herself in intense hand-to-hand combat with Kendalyn, who continued to smoothly dodge.

"Ask Sapphire!" Kendalyn yelled happily, sticking her tongue out in a silly way and winking one eye. Heather felt a burning spike of anger go down her back. _That traiter…_

Kendalyn's eyes, still glowing, became more and more intense as the golden glow became more hard. Kendalyn seemed to be concentrating hard on keeping her eyes glowing as she fought. She jumped backwards and her eyes stopped glowing for a moment as she caught her breath. Heather ran at her, but was cut off when Jay's arm rose out and caught her by the throat. Heather said something through garbled words, and tried to free herself. But Jay's grip was hard and firm, getting tighter every second. Heather looked to her left and saw Jay standing against the wall. Half of him was the exact color and pattern as the wall, and the other was normal, making it look like half of him was coming out of the wall. Heather lifted her hand that was holding her whip and held the end, about to stab Jay's arm. He quickly let go of Heather and jumped from the wall. Heather coughed and stood straight, feeling slightly lightheaded. But it faded and she looked at Jay, who was grabbing his mace and getting ready to attack again.

"Where are the other P.I's?" Heather demanded sharply. Jay stopped and looked at her, then Ebony, then Kendalyn. Ebony was propped against the wall with her eyes closed, though, Jay could tell she was faking, because her left hand had her index finger up, which was a symbol there for 'fake'. Kendalyn was panting in the corner. Jay looked down and looked defeated.

_I need to get them imprisoned._

He sighed and nodded, dropping his mace.

"Fine," he said bitterly, "But don't attack us on the way. You already roughed us up too much."

Heather laughed. It was not light-hearted.

"Yeah, I was trying to rough you up," Heather retorted, arms crossed. Jay shook his head.

"Kendal," he said looking at her. She looked at him and nodded.

"Pick up Ebony and head to the N. I'll take the P.I's to the others; but you can't say, okay? You can't say _anything, _you hear me? Or we'll get kicked!" His voice was urgent. Kendalyn nodded solemnly and then stooped down, picked up Ebony, and then headed down the hallway. Jay looked at Mara and Heather, and then motioned for them to follow him. Heather, still tense, walked up to Jay, followed by Mara.

"After we're done here, you two can't say anything about what just happened, okay?" Jay said, seriously. Heather just glared coldly at him. Mara looked nervously around. Jay just looked down.

"Please don't."

Heather just glared expectantly at him. He nodded again and swallowed.

"This way. But act like I imprisoned you, alright?" He motioned towards the other hallway. Heather rolled her eyes and started following Jay. Mara tentatively followed.

Jay walked through corridors, hallways, doors with codes, and even a few flights of stone stairs. Heather just kept looking around, alert. She squinted at Jay's head and focused slightly.

Several images and words seemed to float past her and fly into her mind and ears as a strange warmth swirled softly around her. Heather's eyes glanced green for a moment and then returned normal.

_Almost at the prison, _the words spelled through a green haze in her mind, _Then I'll lock 'em in. They'll be just like all the others, though, a little more nurtured. _

Images of her and Mara sitting in a dark dungeon-like room with what seemed like hundreds of others, scrawny, skinny, and dirty, and eating hard bread and some kind of thin soup filled her head.

_Yep, _Heather mentally confirmed. _He's planning on trapping us. _

The words and images had raced through her mind briefly, but she knew what it all meant. But she continued walking, ready for anything. She just hoped that Mara was also ready.


	22. Waiting

When Crystal and Nathen reached the top of the hill, they saw Violet standing in front of fountain, staring at the statue of the woman. There was a look of longing and sadness in her eyes.

"Violet!" Crystal called loudly, startling the poor girl. She turned around and breathed a sigh of relief at seeing Crystal.

"Hi," she said quietly, "Where did you two go? I saw you fighting all those-those shadow things." She shuddered as she said the words. Crystal grinned and looked at Nathan, then back at Violet.

"We got 'em all!" she declared triumphantly.

"We _think," _Nathen finished. Crystal waved his words said.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..," she said with an eye roll. "Did Heather and her besties come back?" Crystal asked brightly. Violet looked confused.

"No," Violet said, "And I'm pretty sure Sapphire and Mara aren't her besties."

"Nobody is," Crystal mumbled.

"Who's that statue of?" Nathen asked, still not looking at it. Violet sighed and faced the shadow again.

"She's the founder of our town, though our town's not very old. It's only about 15 years old. Her name was Kyra Diamond. She was considered the human form of the Hibrosekis; beautiful, sweet, pleasant, and the cure for any ailment. There are rumors that she had a lover, and that he vanished after she died, but I don't think it's real.

"She actually made the Hibrosekis. She cross-bred several types of flowers until she got it and then she named it the Hibrosekis because it looks the most like a rose and a hibiscus. We have a whole patch of them growing behind Hazel Falls. It's our village's symbol." She pointed to the picture on her dress.

"Fuih Fuirfh is supposed to be like the Hibrosekis; pleasant, pretty, and wonderful. And it was…until now. But hopefully it will be restored to its good normal self." Violet smiled softly at the thought.

"I'll get my parents back…my friends back…everything will be good again…"

A tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it away, smiling to herself.

Crystal and Nathen exchanged glances and shrugged.

"What should we do while we're waiting for Heather and Friends?" Crystal asked, looking around, "Who knows how long they'll take."

"We could clean and fix everything from our battle," Nathen suggested simply, "Then we can eat and get some sleep."

Crystal brightened up.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, "That we will! C'mon Nathen and Violet!"

Violet cheered up, glad to be able to help for once. Nathen shrugged and nodded.

"So," Crystal asked as she and Violet picked up vegetables from a fallen produce cart,

"Do you have any siblings?"

"No," Violet said, "But I wish I did. My friend Serene had a little sister named Joy. She was like a baby sister to me. She was so sweet and so cute…" Violet smiled at the memory. Crystal nodded.

"I have two sisters," she said matter-of-factly, "My oldest one's Jewels, and the next one is Jade. "

"Are they nice? Or are they bossy and mean," Violet asked, depositing an armful of carrots into one of the baskets in the cart.

"Jewels is very bossy and motherly," Crystal began, scratching her head with her finger, "and Jade is really pretty and strict. I'm the good mix of 'em. Stunningly beautiful, mean when necessary, and the Boss." She smiled and put her hands on her hips.

"It must be nice to have sisters," Violet commented, stooping down to grab a bruised potato. She wrinkled her nose and tossed the potato aside.

"These potatoes are old and bruised," she said. Crystal looked over the other potatoes scattered about and nodded.

"I suppose," she said simply. "After all, nobody has changed them for a week or so." Crystal looked around and spotted an old, worn broom leaning against the side of a house. She walked over to it, grabbed it, and then walked back over to Violet.

"Here," she said, handing Violet the broom and then pointing to the potatoes. "Sweep them up and dump them into…" She looked around, searching for a place. "…that large metal bin over there!" She pointed to the bin, a large metal container a few feet from the fountain. Violet looked at it, nodded, and then began sweeping the old potatoes into a pile. Crystal looked again at the nude-woman fountain and studied it again.

"Why'd they have to make the statue of her naked?" she asked, unembarrassed.

"Don't they know that the guys of the village could be staring at it all the time?"

Violet stopped for a moment, then continued sweeping.

"I'm not sure," she said lightly, "I guess it's just culture."

Crystal just shrugged. "Whatever…"

Violet swept on, thinking about everything that was happening.

"Crystal?" she asked quietly. Crystal's head shot up from a box of jelly candy that was scattered in the bushes.

"Yeph?" she asked, her mouth full.

"What are you guys planning on doing? Like, after you're done with your…uh, mission?"

Crystal swallow a gob chewed-up candy and cleared her throat.

"Um…." she looked up in thought and tapped her chin with her finger,

"I'm pretty sure we're going back to Beacon and continuing our lessons and training. You know, random, 78% boring stuff."

Violet looked down and continued sweeping.

"Is Heather bringing everyone back?" she asked, worried. "From the mountain?"

Crystal nodded.

"Yep! Or- they're _supposed_ to." She noisily unwrapped another jelly candy and popped it into her mouth.

"But I wouldn't worry about them getting hurt or captured or whatever," Crystal continued, smacking loudly on the candy, "Sapphy's pretty good with fighting, Mara's _okay, _I suppose, and Heather…She _says _she's good, so I'll just take her at her word."

She chewed her candy and swallowed it, then took another handful from a pile she had been collecting. Violet watched Crystal down the candy as she swept.

"Do you think my parents are okay?" Violet asked nervously. Crystal chewed on her wad of candy and swallowed it a little too hasty, making her cough and wheeze. She wiped her mouth and eyes after recovering and shook her head.

"Whew!" she panted, fanning her face with her hands, "Don't rush me, Vi!"

Violet felt a tingling sensation rush down her back.

_Did she just call me Vi?! _she mentally squealed, _Is that a nickname of favor?_

She swept a little faster and smiled slightly, her eyes wider with glee.

"But, anyway," Crystal said, spitting to the side and then looking around for more candy, "I can't say for sure if your parents are alright."

Violet sucked in air through her teeth and braced herself.

"But there is a chance that they're waiting patiently for someone to rescue them, alive and…not badly hurt, and missing you with all their hearts!" Crystal crossed her hand over her heart and looked sweetly at the sky.

"But then of course," she continued, a more matter-of-fact look on her face, "they could be suffering horribly from some sort of torture or disease or something and knowing deep in their hearts that no one will be able to rescue them from the horrid place they're in." Crystal began to look more and more overly-reactive and talked louder and louder as she spoke, " And they could be dying and writhing around like headless snakes, or lying dead and decomposing with, many others like themselves, doomed and defenseless, in the very ground we stand on!" Crystal took a deep breath and then nodded with a sweet smile at Violet.

"But, you know. Fifty-fifty chance. We'll never know!"

Violet gripped the broomstick so tightly, her knuckles turned white, a look of fear and horror frozen on her face.

"So…we'll know when-when they come back?" Violet said, not looking up from the ground. Crystal shrugged.

"I suppose," she said simply.

Crystal gasped and eagerly snatched a red candy from the ground, unwrapping the clear plastic and then popping it into her mouth. Violet continued to sweep, mechanically, and thought about what Crystal had said.

_What if they're dead? s_he inwardly wept, _I'll be an orphan. I'll have no parents. No place. I'll be…I'll be all alone. _

A tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it quickly away.

"Crystal?" Violet asked, her voice sounding even younger than usual.

Crystal swung around to face Violet and Violet let out a little cry. The red candy that Crystal had been sucking on had melted in Crystal's mouth and caused some of it to drool out of her mouth, making it look a _lot _like blood.

"What?" Crystal said, confused at Violet's fear. Violet shook her head and sighed, ashamed of her sudden freakout.

"Sorry," she said quietly, "It's just…that candy…"

Crystal waved her hand and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, I get it, Vi," she said, "I like doing stuff like that, just not to people like you…sometimes." She giggled and then turned around, looking at the lady-fountain again.

"Ya know," she said, putting her hands on her hips, "I'm starting to think that _my _physical beauty really beats her's. I mean, those are _saggy_!" She wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out.

"Bleck!"

Nathen, who was on the other side of the fountain tossing large pieces of rubble and broken stuff into the heap of a house that had fallen, looked up from a broken wagon wheel and looked irritatedly at Crystal.

"And I think she needs to work out more," Crystal continued, ignorant to the fact that Nathen was in easy earshot, "That shape. Nopety Nopety Nope." She shook her head and sighed as if exasperated. Violet just continued sweeping, wishing that there were more potatoes to be swept.

Nathen looked up at Crystal again and frowned.

"Crystal, please…" he said, his voice quieter than he wanted.

But Crystal went on, talking louder.

"And maybe she should grow her hair just a teeeeeenny bit longer," she said, pinching her fingers together for emphasis. "That way, it'll show off her whole figure better."

"_Crystal_!" Nathen yelled. Crystal snapped to his attention and Violet looked up.

"Hey! I can hear you over there!" He looked around and wondered how to explain how he felt.

"This…this is _not _the way to talk to a-a guy, okay?" He looks at her with his eyebrows raised. Crystal just made a silly giggle.

"And why not?" she giggled.

"Because," Nathen said, his voice flat, "my mind start to do weird things." He reached down and picked up a heavy chunk of cement and thrust it into the pile of rubble.

Crystal began to laugh and Violet felt her face growing hot.

Oh, Vi!" Crystal giggled, putting her arm around Violet and hugging her close, "You have no idea how much I love messing with men!" She laughed some more and finally sat down on the grass next to Violet's pile of rotting potatoes.

_No idea, _she thought sarcastically in her mind. She finished sweeping the potatoes and set the broom back where Crystal had found it.

"I'll dump them into the bin," Crystal said, snatching the broom as soon as Violet had set it down. She marched over to the pile and began sweeping it roughly towards the large metal bin, grinning with some sort of pleasure. Violet watched as Crystal kicked the bin over, relieved when she saw that it was empty, and then Crystal began chucking the bruised potatoes into the metal can, humming some random tune as she did so.

Nathen walked over to them, a look of satisfaction on his face.

"Hey," he said after Crystal had skipped to them, "I think we're done."

Crystal and Violet both looked around and noticed how everything looked back to normal. The vegetable and fruit carts that had been upturned were picked back up and their contents had been put I their appropriate places. The chucks and pieces of the house that had fallen over had all been deposited into the huge pile of rubble from the house. They _had _finished. All the shadows had been destroyed and the villages was pretty much untouched.

"Sooooooo…" Crystal said, looking around, "Now what?"

"Let's eat!" Nathen said. Violet looked around and nodded

"I'm going to my house," she said looking towards a smaller house near the top of the hill, "There might still be some food in there that we can eat."

It's only window was shattered and the curtains were torn. Violet walked slowly to the door, took a deep breath, and then walked in, closing it behind her.

Crystal and Nathen stood there, staring at the door to Violet's house, saying nothing.

"I'll get our food bag out and we can-" Nathen began.

Then, Crystal swung abruptly around, her hands out, and accidentally slapped Nathen in the face.

"Ow!" Nathen yelled, covering his cheek with his hand and then looking angrily at Crystal. "Please watch what you're doing!"

Crystal looks back at him and waved her hand in his direction.

"Whatever..," was her only response.


	23. Escape

"This is it," Jay announced, pointing to the large metal door in front of them. Heather and Mara, both standing unassisted behind him, exchanged glances and then look at the door. Heather racked her brain for a way to get Jay out of the way and free all the P.I.s.

Jay took the small leather cap off his head and held it up to the door's handle. The handle flashed golden when he put it by it, and then, after a few seconds, flashed green.

The strange symbol that was constantly seen was also on Jay's cap.

"Just be quiet and…um, blend in," he said, looking around. He reached for the handle and opened the door. It creaked slightly and a few crumbs of stone and dirt fell from the ceiling around the door, but it opened in a satisfying way. The inside looked quite dark, but they could still see the shapes of people inside. A bitter, earthy smell wafted from the doorway and made Heather screw up her face. But, for whatever reason, it was almost pleasing, like the smell of a basement.

"C'mon," Jay said, leading them in and closing the door behind them. Inside was dim, but their eyes quickly adjusted.

It was a large, stone chamber with what looked like glass window going along the entire top of the ceiling. But outside the windows was pure darkness. A long wooden board was chained and bolted to the wall in a way so that it could be sat on and many, many people were sitting on it. Men, woman, and children alike were there in torn, dirty clothing. Most of them were skinny and pale, and a few were not so bad looking, but all of them looked either sad, defeated, or angry. It was all silent in there, all except for one small voice singing sadly in the corner. Every corner in the room was filled with spider webs and dirt.

Mara looked at the corner and saw a little girl, skinnier and dirtier than most of the people there, singing. Her voice, though small and weak, was quite pretty as she sang her sorrowful song. Mara felt her heart break with sorrow.

_I need to get these people out of here, _she said to herself with determination.

"Okay," Heather demanded, her voice echoing in the stone chamber, "_We_ are going to take them, and _you _are going to unshackle them…or whatever, and then we're all going to leave. Got it?"

Jay just looked at her with an unreadable expression and then shook his head.

"We don't shackle them," he said simply, "we just have a weird machine-thingy that doesn't let anyone use their semblance. It works quite well." He walked over to the wall and glared at an old woman who shrunk away as soon as she made eye contact with

him.

"Unless," he continued, looking at the band on his arm bearing the symbol, "you have our Clan's mark. All us members have one. The higher the rank, the higher the access to this whole place." He smiled and looked at Heather with his icy blue eyes. The symbol on his cap and armband were softly glowing a steady white, very faintly. Heather squinted at him in the darkness and then, very tense reached for her whip. Jay suddenly turned a dark, dank greenish-blue-gray and seemed to blend in with everything behind and around him, making it very difficult to spot him. Heather tensed and then sensed with her aura, a soft dark green glow forming around her. Just as she began to sense Jay's presence behind her, she felt his hands on her shoulders and felt his breath on her cheek.

"You should really be more careful about listening to strangers," he said in a chilling tone, his grip on her shoulders strengthening until it began to hurt, "Now be my guest."

—-

_Just keep moving…just keep moving… _Sapphire inwardly hummed the tune in her head as she ran, an eagerness and desperation running through her. Although she had actually never been in this place before, every hallway, staircase, and entrance was familiar in some way, and she found that she was able to get through every locked, guarded, or secret door without needing to use rough actions. The people guarding them would smile and greet her, letting her in. The locked ones, she noticed, all had nearly the exact setup as the puzzles she had to figure out at home. Though they seemed silly, they worked, and Sapphire found herself knowing exactly where she was and almost everybody she bumped into.

_If Heather and Mara are doing what I hope they'll do, _she said to herself as she ran, _Then they should be… _She looked around and saw a door with the hourglass symbol on it and ran over to it. She pulled out her quiver and held it by the symbol, watching it and the door glow faintly and the door open. Inside was a long hallway.

"Leads to the Custodia," she murmured, looking through the door and then looking around again. "Just need to clear the way for them."

She walked back, remembering the treasure hunt she would play when she was younger. The places here matched the treasure hunt map perfectly.

Hovering between walking and running, she hurried through halls and stairs, opening doors and leaving them open, leading a path right to the place below where they had all come in.

_Hurry, Heather! _Sapphire willed her allies. _I'll meet up with you soon. _

—

Jay led Heather roughly to the wooden seat and sat her down next to a very ill-looking fat man and a woman holding a weakly crying baby. Heather warily eyed the baby and then looked back at Jay with a green glare. The sound of someone's foot scraping the floor echoed slightly in the chamber.

"That baby isn't crying loud enough," she said harshly, glaring at Jay. He simply shrugged and looked over the group of P.I.s, grinning.

"Why should I care?" he asked, looking at Heather again, "And besides; that'd get pretty annoying." He smiled and shook his head.

"People these days are really too easy to get."

Heather just glared at him all the more and then ripped her gaze from him to the wall. Jay shook his head again and sighed as if he was tired.

A few children began to whisper to their mothers and fathers.

"Well," he said standing up and clapping his hands together like he was getting dust off, "I have more work to do." He turned around and suddenly felt a hard metal object strike him painful on the nose and make him fall backwards. He stood up dizzily and shook his head. The sounds of hundreds of hurried footsteps suddenly filled Jay's ears and he turned around, surprised and angry at what he saw. He looked back and saw that all the P.I.s had begun to leave in a big crowd, Mara leading them through the door. Heather grinned and quickly got up to leave.

The entire time Heather and Jay had been talking, Mara had been silently motioning for the people in the room to get ready to make a run for the door, then waiting for Jay to turned around and let her hit him with her gun in the nose.

"Hey!" he yelled, racing towards the crowd, "Come back! You can't leave." He ran for Heather, but she had already run to the front of the crowd, while Mara had filed in to the back, both leading the crowd on. Jay let out a frustrated growl. Then, quickly running to the side of the room to a black spot on the wall, swiftly rubbed his armband against the spot and revealed a red button. He slammed his hand on top of it and a loud, clear alarm sounded clamorously though the echoing hallways. A bright red light flashed over and over again in the halls and the crowd began to run fast, some tripping and then being left farther behind as they helped pick up younger ones and hurry along the elderly and ill.

Heather, running in the front, raced through the hall, unsure where it even lead, racking her brain for a solution. She tried to think back to what it had looked like as she, Mara and Jay had been walking, but everything had looked the same. A few people behind her were yelling something, but Heather couldn't understand them. Mixed words of,

"Escaping labyrinths," and, "Turn left…or right," and, "Thanks you kindly, Missus..," confused her and made her mad. Then one word, a moment from a young man yelling behind her, caught her attention.

"The gate!" he hollered directly into her ear, "It's up! Blast it open!" Heather glanced briefly behind her and saw a man with a shadow of a growing beard on his face pointing upward.

"How am I supposed to-" Heather stopped speaking when the sound of a gunshot rang through the long hallway. Several people screamed and began to run even faster. Heather turned looked behind her and saw four other people bearing weapons, most of them with gun-like forms, and aiming them directly into the crowd of fleeing people.

"Mara!" Heather shrieked so hard that her voice cracked and went a pitch higher, "Get them outta here!"

Mara, just barely able to hear Heather's order amidst the screams, shouts, and running feet of the escapees, immediately stopped running and skidded to a halt, looking warily around. She just barely dodged a bullet head swiftly towards her head before a girl with an odd looking, metallic fan and the same hourglass symbol on her skirt came rushing towards her.

Mara dodged a sweep from her opponent's sharp fan, with seemed like some sort of blade, and then spun around kicking at her stomach, wincing as she did.

_Stop her from hurting them!_

The girl dodged the kick with ease and seemed to lightly dance her way through all of Mara's attacks. Mara, however, notice that the girl, however skilled she was at dodging, didn't seem to be trying to hit Mara at all, but simply dodge it all. She also noticed that the girl's eyes, when not focused on her face, were looking somewhere behind her.

"Oh I see how it is!" Mara thought aloud, suddenly realizing what the girl had been trying to do. The air around Mara swished as the tip of a spearhead narrowly missed Mara's head. Mara turned around, grabbed the boy behind her's shirt, jerked him forward, and then slammed the butt of her weapon into his face. As soon as Mara had done this, she kicked him down as hard as she could and stomped her foot on top of his chest, pointing her gun at his head. The boy, dazed from the sudden attack, shook his head to clear it and then glared at Mara with angry eyes.

"You need to stop attacking these innocent people!" Mara began, but was interuppted.

The girl with the fan lunged forward, her razor sharp weapon extended out to certainly injure her foe. Mara jumped backwards in a flip, her feet kicking the girl in the face, and then landed, punching the girl's arm at a pressure point as hard as she could and snatching the fan from her hand. The girl rubbed her chin and stuck out her slim hand to take back her weapon, but Mara slashed at her hand and saw the blade slice painfully through the girl's outreached hand. The cut immediately filled with bright red blood and began to trickle down her hand while the girl clutched her hand and howled loudly in pain. Mara winced, but her objective was to important right now.

Meanwhile, the boy Mara had been standing on had quickly stood up and raced towards where his spear had fallen after Mara had knocked it aside. Mara, seeing him retrieve his weapon and aim a deadly shot at a trio of people hurrying to keep up with the rest of the crowd, threw the fan as precisely as she could. It whizzed through the air and stuck perfectly into the boy's back, making him fall over onto his back. When he fell, the fan dug in deeper to his back, making Mara wince as she imagined the pain and realized what she had done.

_Save the villagers! _She inwardly cried.

"Trent!" the girl behind Mara cried. Mara suddenly felt a blow on her shoulder and swung around to see the girl racing…_past _her, to Trent. The girl rolled him over and checked his pulse.

Another gunshot sounded through the air, followed by three more. A any people screamed. Four people fell to the ground, left behind by the crowd. Two of them were clutching bleeding wounds. Two of them lay perfectly still with closed eyes.

The girl, stopping what she was doing to see what had happened squinted at the four people and then focused back on Trent. Mara put her hand to her mouth and gasped at the poor villagers laying on the ground. She hurried over to them, but saw the girl do something out to the corner of her eye.

The girl roughly pulled her fan out of Trent's back, wiped his blood off of Trent's pants, and then looked around for Mara. Mara looked horrified at the girl and Trent. Then, the girl, after spotting Mara, suddenly raced towards her, her teeth clenched and her fan spread out even more. The girl split her fan into two fans, thinner now, and stuck them together, clicking a button. The two fans merged and clicked into place as a small blade-like thing, which the girl used to slice and smack at Mara. Mara also managed to dodge many of the girls blows, though, not with as much ease.

Meanwhile, Heather who was wishing that Nathen and Crystal were there, was trying to find the right way out, through all the staircases, hallways, and doors, and understand what the man behind her was trying to say. As she and the crowd ran through the hallways and stumbled down the stairs, they came to a large metal door with no knob.

"Great!" Heather yelled aloud, sarcasm dripping off of her words, "Now we can get stuck by a huge metal-" She stopped and kicked the door as hard as she could, anger and panic surging through her. Then, almost as soon as she had kicked it, a spot on the door glowed faintly and the symbol appeared, light blue. Then, the door opened and Heather heard footsteps hurrying away as soon as the doorway was open. Heather wondered what on earth had caused the door open, but continue running, focusing on a way out.

"Up in a minute or two!" The man behind her shouted, "We need to blast it open somehow!"

"What do you mean!" Heather literally screamed into the man's face, "Is it directly up?!"

The man nodded, then suddenly yelled out in pain as another gunshot sounded. He fell, disappearing unnoticed amongst the crowd of people hurrying behind Heather. Heather swore harshly aloud and hurried to keep running.

"Stop running or we'll be forced to continue shooting!" a man's voice yelled amongst the chaos.

"Not when I've come this far!" Heather roared, sprinting ahead of everyone and skidding around the corner. She bent over panting for a moment before standing up and looking around.

"The gate is up…" Heather mumbled to herself, tapping her fingers on the wall and racking her brain for an answer. "Blow it open…" She looked up at the ceiling. It's brown muddiness reminded her of a dirt. Dirt ceiling.

"The floor's the ceiling!" Heather shouted aloud, her voice suddenly not so harsh, but rather bright and excited. She rushed back to the running crowd and yelled for everyone to stop and stay by her. The crowd, still frantic, continued running until they were bumping against the wall and each other. Heather jumped over someone, using their shoulders as a boost and then stepping on people's heads to get across the crowd. She saw, in the path of where the crowd had run, a trail of people, many looking very dead and some crying out in pain. Mara was involved in a fast paced hand-to-hand fight with a person who's dodging and striking matched Mara's with strange similarity. They hit and dodged each other in some sort of pattern, dealing a blow and then receiving one. Heather, though frantic to get out of the hallway, was impressed with Mara's brisk movement and fast dodges. Three of the people who had come out after the alarm were laying on the floor, one groaning and holding his head, one laying in a pool of blood, and one staring at the ceiling taking shallow, hoarse breaths. Nobody else was in sight.

Heather pulled out her whip, activated the spikes and slashed it at the guy Mara was fighting. It raked across his back, tearing his shirt, but doing nothing else. Heather swore again and spit in the dirt, mumbling darkly about how annoying aura was and how she should have been closer. She ran closer to Mara and her opponent, trying again the move she had done before.

The boy, who had longer hair than any boy Heather had ever seen before, jumped out the whip's way and flung a disk of some sort at Heather. But while he had been trying to attack Heather, Mara had turned her daggers to a gun and quickly, without hesitation, shot him right in the back. He fell over with a moan and lay on the floor trying to talk but only coughed painfully. Heather grinned with some sort of pleasure.

"There you go, you little puny kid," she said, spitting to the side. Mara sighed sadly, but looked around alertly.

"What next?" she asked, spying the crowd of people standing restlessly in a swarm where Heather had commanded.

"Where did that little birdie go?" Heather asked, sprinting toward the crowd, followed by Mara. Mara, confused, thought for a moment as they ran.

"You mean Jay" she asked. Heather nodded, her black and green hair trailing behind her. She dodged a body laying in her path and continued running.

"I'm to sure," Mara said loudly, "But I think he might of ran off."

Heather rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue.

"Coward," she mumbled.

—

Sapphire raced through the hallway, the sound of a deep explosion booming in the distance. She ran, seeing the door of the prison hanging open and the inside empty.

_Good job, guys! _She inwardly shouted with glee.

Slowing to a walk, she continued, hoping with all her heart that they were escaping fast.

But as she reached a hallway, nearly to the spot where she hoped to find them, she saw bodies. A trail of Fuih Fuirfh villagers, she could tell, from their matching attire, and a few Clanmates in pools of blood. None of them looked alive.

_No… _Tears filled Sapphire's eyes as she saw people she had grown up with, laying on the ground dead.

"Trent!" she exclaimed, running over to a dead man in a pool of blood. She saw a deep slice in his back, surrounded in blood.

"No!" she sobbed, seeing his pale, young face so still and sad looking. She stood up and looked at a different girl, one she had been especially good friends with in her childhood, and nearly burst into tears.

"No," she whispered, walking her to her, "Grace…" She saw her fallen friend's metal fan, dirty with blood, laying beside her. She suddenly remembered her and Grace, eating dinner at each other's houses and fighting over the silliest things, and then burst into tears.

"Why like this?" she weeped quietly. "Why so much violence?"

She was referring to her uncle was much as she was Heather, but her heart, torn with the memories of nearly everyone she saw, began to burn with anger towards Heather, and even Mara.

The sound of faint voices reached Sapphire's ears. Looking up from her friend's body, she saw ahead of her, another hallway leading left, and from it was a large, scattered mess of dirt and stone, powdered with dust.

_At least they managed to get the ceiling open, _Sapphire said to herself, standing up and wiping her eyes. Looking down at her dead comrades, she felt a heavy weight sag on her shoulders and a deep sorrow inside herself. Wiping her eyes, she cleared her throat and walked slowly away, towards the place where she knew Heather, Mara, and the P.I.s would be.

—

When her and Mara had reached everyone else, they stopped and began looking around.

"Mara," Heather said strictly, "Can you shoot any missiles or anything?"

"No," Mara said, suddenly wishing she could.

Heather slapped her hand on her forehead and looked around. The alarm still buzzed shrilly through the halls and red lights continue flashing.

"Everybody get away from this area!" Heather screamed as out loud as she could. The crowd began to file away to behind the wall, helping each other to a safe distance from Heather and Mara. Heather pulled out a grenade of some sort form her belt and pulled out its fuse.

"Get me some fire dust," Heather instructed, holding out her hand. Mara pulled out a fire crystal, the same one she had used for their torch, and handed it to Heather, who used it to light the fuse on the grenade.

"What are you doing?!" Mara asked, frightened as the fuse sparked and hissed.

"Get back by everyone else!" Heather yelled stepping backward and aiming at the ceiling. Mara raced backwards to the crowd and waited.

Heather, watching the fuse carefully, waited until it was nearly out, then, taking a deep breath, threw it at the ceiling and then ran back, diving into the crowd. The grenade exploded as soon as it hit the ceiling, creating a huge cloud of dust and sending chunks of mud, dirt, stone, and clay everywhere. A deafening boom sounded and the cloud of dust covered over the crowd.

Silence.

As the dust cleared and people began to cough heavily from the dust and smoke, Heather notice that the alarms and lights had stopped and a large hole had appeared, in the wall where they had gone behind, and in the ceiling. Above the hole was a stone ceiling.

"The tunnel!" Heather exclaim excitedly before exploding into a fit of coughing. Everyone in the crowd was coated in dust, but they all began to cheer. Mara wasted no time. She flew up, dust falling off her wings as they flapped, and went through the hole and into the tunnel where her, Heather, and Sapphire had first emerged. The air in there was _not _dusty, and she gratefully breathed it in, coughing. She looked down through the hole and saw Heather, coated in dust yelling at her.

"Help everyone up!" she called, now gruff and mean again. "Does anybody have a rope?"

"I do!" a man proclaimed, holding it up in a bunched up bundle. Heather snatching it from the man's hands and tossed it up to Mara. Mara unraveled the rope, hoping that it would be long enough, and let it down the hole.

"Grab on!" she called, holding the end of the rope as tight as she could. Heather watched as a few young people grabbed onto the rope and fitfully climbed up it, then help Mara hold the rope down as more and more people began to climb up it.

"Hurry up, you slowpokes," Heather demanded, looking cautiously around, "It's only a matter of time before more creeps start coming over here."

"I- _we _are trying as hard as we can!" came Mara's up high voice. Heather just shook her head and gritted her teeth.

"Just go faster!" Heather urged. Mara made no reply, but continue to pull people up, now much faster, due to all the men who were now helping her.

By the time had of the crowd had gotten up through the hole, the dust that had been floating around in the air had settled and a stranger, silent calm had seemed to come over everyone as they slowly made their escape.

Suddenly, Heather heard footsteps. She turned, tense and alert, and pulled out her whip. The footsteps echoed through the hallways, closer and louder. Heather slowly walked around the corner, ready to strike another foe down, when she saw who she was approaching.

There, right in front of her, stood Sapphire. Boomerang turned into bow and a frosty blue ice arrow nocked, she stood there, a calm, serious look on her face. Her face was pink, as if from crying and a sadness seemed to have settled in her.

"What are _you _doing over here?" Heather asked, anger mixed into her mean voice.

"Heather, I-" Sapphire began, lowering her weapon and getting a worried expression. But Heather cut her off.

"Don't. Say. Another. Word," Heather said angrily, whip still out, "Go back to all your 'friends' and leave us alone, Traiter."

Sapphire signed and looked down, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Heather," she said quietly. Heather raised an eyebrow.

"I-I've been opening those doors you almost ran into," Sapphire began, her voice shaking, "The one's you have seen and the one's you didn't. I've been holding back more people from coming and attacking you. I'm on your side. I promise." She looked desperate and sincere. Heather shook her head.

"Look, Blue Hair," she said putting her whip away and crossing her arms, "You've got some explaining to do. But just tell me how you kept more Clannies from coming."

Sapphire hesitated, and then nodded.

"I-I may have a _few _authorities here," she began, tentatively, producing a nervous smile, "And I may be this place's boss's niece," she continued, sounding nervous.

Heather rolled her eyes.

"So, you're part of this maze," she said flatly. Sapphire nodded, looking down.

"But please don't take it the wrong way!" Sapphire said, a franticness in her voice, "I'm not really a _part _of this place, I'm just includes as one. Because of my uncle. I was just brought up knowing just about everything about this place and this whole Clan. It's not really my fault. Please understand!"

Heather sighed and shook her head.

"Well…just come back with me. We're almost all outta here, so hurry up." She glanced towards the corner and shook her head again. "C'mon."

Sapphire followed Heather to the spot where nearly everyone had finished escaping and walked up to the rope. Looking up into the hole that Heather had blasted open, Sapphire saw that there was a host of men helping with the rope operation now, making the hard work simple and easy. When the last person had wriggled their way up the rope, Sapphire quickly and easily pulled herself up the rope, followed by Heather.

The tunnel that her, Heather, and Mara had entered through was not packed with people, some crying, some relieved, and many quiet.

"Is that everyone?" a small old woman asked, her voice shaking. Heather scowled at Sapphire and then looked back at the woman, giving her a firm nod. The woman's eyes widened and she quickly turned around, filing through the crowd and calling someone's name with frantic cries. Sapphire looked down, tears beginning to blur her vision. A small, but heavy feeling of shame and guilt began to weigh on her chest, making her want to cry.  
It wasn't your fault. It wasn't your fault. She repeated to herself over and over, It was everyone else. Heather. Mara. The Clanmates.  
She shut her eyes and tried to let it all go, but it all stayed.  
"We should hurry up and go," Mara said softly to Heather. Heather nodded again.  
"Listen up, everyone," she called, gaining most of the crowd's attention.  
"I need all of you to walk out, slowly. The floor in here is the ceiling down there, and I just blew a hole threw it."  
Some people nodded and then, the people began to slowly exit, murmuring to each other as they went.  
Heather looked at Mara, then Sapphire.  
"You're lucky I'm trusting you," she muttered sharply to Sapphire. "I don't usually take trust lightly."  
Looking at the exit and the crowd, Mara sighed.  
"We'd better hurry back to the town," she said, still looking at the entrance. Heather nodded in agreement.  
"Yep," she said, spitting something from her mouth onto the floor, "Let's go." 


	24. INTERMISSION

You are a little more that half finished with Part One of CriMSoN! 13 more chapters of Pt. 1 left to go!

Sorry, this page was unnecessary, but I randomly came across it while editing and decided to put it here instead of the _actual _halfway point. (I'm lazy)


	25. Loss and Gain

It was much sunnier in the town than when they had left it. Many of the dark, stormy clouds had disappeared and were replaced by gray, silver, and white ones. The air was clean and full of the fresh scent of rain, and the sun was shining bright into the village.  
The crowd had broken up into small groups, some going into houses, others walking around their homes, and some just standing in groups talking.  
"See them?" Heather asked was she scanned over the area, searching for Crystal, Nathen and Violet.  
"Not yet," Mara responded. She spread her wings out and beat them, causing a small burst of wind to blow Heather and Sapphire's long hair around. She flew up and looked around, her hair slightly moving with her wings.  
"Over there!" she said, pointing over to the fountain, which had apparently been sliced in half with water spraying out of the top like a geyser.  
Sapphire and Mara hurried over to the fountain, which was in the center of the town, to meet them. Heather rolled her eyes and followed them with her arms crossed.  
"Nathen! Crystal!" Mara called, her arms out. Nathen immediately took notice of her and turned around, stretching his arms out. The Mara literally jumped into his arms, which closed around and embraced her.  
"I'm glad you're okay," she whispered to him.  
"Same to you," he whispered back.  
"Violet!" Sapphire eagerly shouted, running to her small friend. The two of them hugged.  
"Are You okay?" she asked Violet, looking her over.  
"Yeah," she said, lifting up her arm to scratch her head, but then winced and put her arm down. Sapphire looked at the red blotch on her arm and suddenly remembered it.  
"Oh, yeah," she said, "Your arm. Is it okay? What happened to it?"  
"I sliced it on glass when I ran away," Violet said quietly. "It'll be okay though."  
The two of them stood there a little while when Violet suddenly realized something.  
"My parents!" she blurted, "Where are they! Are they okay?"  
Sapphire looked down.  
"Uh…" she began, uncertain. "I don't know. What do they look like?"  
Violet, suddenly panicked quickly answered.  
"My mother has purple hair, like mine. My father has brown hair and a scar on his cheek. A really noticeable scar. And my mother has bangs."  
Sapphire paled.  
"Um…" The image of the two people on the ground clinging to each other flashed through her head.  
"I think…I'm sorry…" Sapphire looked for words that wouldn't scare the girl, but every sentence for "Your parents are dead" seemed far too cruel for this thirteen year old.  
But despite the lack of Sapphire's words, Violet understood. Understood that her parents had died. Understood that her the only family she knew had been taken away from her.  
Her eyes widened and she stared away, past Sapphire to somewhere in the distance. Tears began to flow and her chin quivered as she began to digest the meaning of her loss.  
"No…" she whispered, eyes wide and tear-filled. "No!"  
She shut her eyes, making more tears stream down her face, and shook her head, clenching her hair with her fists and bowing her head.  
Sapphire watched the poor girl suffering from her loss with pity. Again, the feeling of guilt began to weigh on her chest, heavier this time.  
_It wasn't my fault! _she inwardly screamed,_ It was all someone else's! But then why do I feel this way?_  
Heather walked over, arms crossed and a stony expression on her face. She saw a weeping, now parentless Violet, a downcast Sapphire, a sad Nathen and Mara, holding hands, and Crystal, who was covering her eyes with her hands and mumbling about something being in her eyes. A touch of sympathy softened Heather's flat expression at the look of Violet.  
Suddenly, Violet looked up, noticed Heather, and then jumped into Heathers arms, hugging her tightly and sobbing uncontrollably. Heather stood there, a surprised, confused, and very strange expression on her face.  
Sapphire, still her her state of glum guilt, suddenly had to cover her mouth to keep herself from laughing out loud. Mara and Crystal, who also felt the same shock of seeing Heather's face like that, also turned around and tried to hide their surprised feelings.  
Heather stood there, her arms partially holding Violet, who was clinging onto her, with the shocked expression of "What is This" frozen on her face.  
Then, after only about a minute or so, her face began to melt into a soft, kind, and motherly expression that nobody who had come with her to the mission had ever seen on anyone. Heather, now with that warm, nice face, smiled softly and hugged Violet close, a hint of confusion still touching her facial expression. A tear, small and almost unnoticeable ran down the side of her face as she closed her eyes and hugged Violet closer; tighter.  
Finally, they let go of each other and stood there, looking at each other.  
"Violet," Heather began, her voice still low and firm, but compassionate, "I know how hard it is to lose your family."  
She closed her eyes and another small tear ran out.  
"And it's hard to forget them; all that they did, what they were doing, how much they loved you and you loved them. Don't feel like the only person on Remnant who lost their parents without being able to say goodbye first."  
Violet nodded, sniffing and wiping some of the tears from her eyes.  
Heather cleared her throat and blinked a few times.  
"And I'm hoping that you don't have to live with the guilt of, 'I could've done something', like I did," she continued, a her voice a little softer.  
"It only leads to a feeling of depression and self doubt. And that leads to the thought that you don't matter and you'll never amount to anything. And that isn't true."  
Heather bended onto her knee and held Violet's hands, looking deep into her big brown eyes with her dark green ones.  
"So..," she said, finishing off her speech. She seemed to be hesitating and trying to find words for another statement.  
"What?" Violet asked softly, her voice still swimming with emotion.  
"So..," Heather said again, looking down and then back up at Violet, "I…I'm thinking that I don't really want to live all alone like I have been for a while."  
Violet's eyes widened and her head leaned back a little with surprise.  
"I guess what I'm saying is..," Heather stammered, "I…I'm asking you if you want to live with me. Be my…" she paused and thought of the right word.  
"I could be your…guardian."  
Sapphire sucked in air through her teeth. Crystal looked about ready to explode. Mara gave a short gasp and then lightly hugged Nathen, who took on a dreamy smile and happily accepted the hug.

Violet's mouth hung open and more tears began to flow.

"I…I..," she stammered, shocked and confused, "I…would…well, I…"

She was speechless.

Heather stood up, still holding Violet's hands.

"But don't take that as a parent," she quickly shot at her, pointing a finger.

"And don't call me Mom, or Mother."

Violet smiled and hugged Heather again, crying more.

Heather accepted the hug and sighed, patting Violet's back.

"So that's a yes?" she asked, sounding weary. Violet nodded, sobbing all the more.

Heather sighed and then smiled, a tired, satisfied smile of sympathy.

Sapphire, Crystal, Mara, and Nathen all seemed to breathe sigh of relief, savoring this tender moment and hoping it to end well.

Suddenly, Heather became aware that several villagers had taken notice to this, and had formed a semicircle around the group, some peaking curiously over the broken fountain, and many just standing there, watching. A few were shedding tears of their own.

"Hey!" Heather shouted, gaining her usual hardness again, "Get away! Mind your _own _business!"

Everyone snapped back to what they had been doing before and quickly fled from Heather's piercing green glare. Violet laughed, a nervous, just-recovered-from-crying laugh, and looked at Heather.

Heather looked back at her and shook her head.

"Look, everyone," she said, turning around and looking at everyone in the mission, "I called a group of Huntsmen nearby and they're getting us a ship to take us back to Beacon, now that our work here is done."

Nathen and Mara let out a sigh of relief and looked at each other with a soft smile. Sapphire shrugged and rolled her shoulders. Crystal groaned and covered her face with her hands.

"Already? she moaned like a child, "We've only been here for like, an day!" She frowned and kicked a stone into an empty bucket.

"It's been a long day," Sapphire corrected, giving Crystal a scolding look.

Crystal stuck out her tongue and rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," she said.

"Let's pack up and get ready to go," Heather continued, "They should meet us near the entrance of this town. Violet," she said looking down at the girl, "You'll just stay with me until we get back to my place."

Violet swallowed nervously, but nodded.

"You'll need to find some clothes for yourself," Heather added, looking around. "And some extra for when you grow up. I'm sure there are some people willing to give up a dress or two."

Violet nodded and slowly walked off to find herself some more clothes.

"The rest of you," Heather said, turning to the rest of the group, "Pack up your stuff and meet me at the entrance."

With that, she walked away and disappeared from view amongst all the others walking around.

—

"So that was when I decided _not _to yell at my mother _ever _again," Sapphire said, taking another drink from her canteen. Nathen swallowed his bite of granola bar and wiped his mouth.

"Have you yelled at her since?" he asked. Sapphire shook her head.

"I don't think so."

Team CMSN, Violet and Heather sat in the large white ship, the amazing view of the Hazel Mountains slowly fading from view as they flew farther and farther away. They snacked lightly on the food they brought, chatting happily with each other.

"I wish this mission was like that other team's," Crystal pouted, still down about the mission's duration. Sapphire frowned.

"I'm glad that we finished our mission and we're all here in one piece," she said, crossing her arms and squinting at Crystal. Then she turned and looked towards the cabin, where Violet was sitting with Mara and discussing family events.

"I'm especially glad that we were assigned this certain mission," Sapphire added with a light smile. Crystal rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," she said childishly.

"Hey," Heather said, stepping out from the driver's area, "We're going to be back in Beacon in about three hours. Got it?"

Nathen and Sapphire nodded, but Crystal just slumped onto the floor frowning.

"Tempus Fugit," she mumbled. Sapphire gave Crystal a correcting glare and she sat up, smoothing her ponytail and mumbling under her breath. Heather shook her head and walked towards the cabin. She opened the door without knocking and entered, startling Violet and Mara.

"Oh!" Mara said, jumping to her feet, "You scared me!"

"Of course I did," Heather replied dully, crossing her arms.

"Get out," she said, motioning for Mara to leave. Mara made a confused look, but obediently did as directed. Heather walked over to Violet and sat down next to her.

"You knew you could have stayed in Fuih Fuirfh, right?" she said, arms still crossed.

Violet nodded, glancing at her tightly bandaged arm.

"So why come with me, when you could stay with people you know in a town you know?" Heather continued, the hard edge in her voice replaced with a curiousness.

"Because I wanted to stay with you," Violet answered simply.

The words, however simple they were, echoed in Heather's ears and made a pang of emotion run through her.

"Oh?" she said curiously, raising a brow. Violet nodded.

"It's hard to explain," she said quietly. She paused.

"Why did you ask me if I wanted to stay with you?" Violet asked, bouncing the question back to Heather. Heather looked away and shook her head.

"I already explained," she muttered. Violet nodded.

"Because you don't want me to feel alone and like nobody cares about me," she said, urging Heather on. Heather nodded slowly.

"And you truly don't want to be alone," Violet continued, making Heather nod again.

"But, of course," she continued with a smirk, "You could get married. Then you could have a husband to keep you company, and some kids, too!" She smiled and looked down.

"Don't you talk like that!" Heather said sharply, pointing at her with authority. Violet grinned and covered her mouth.

"Of course," she said playfully.

Turning her head away, Heather hid the small smile spreading over her face.


	26. Another Day

"So then our ship was completely immersed in water," Carmen went on, describing his team's mission. They had come back from their mission two days after team CMSN had, tired and battered. They had went on a sea patrol around Vale with a burly huntsmen, watching for Grimm activity and for threatening adversaries, as well as rescuing anything that needed it.

"The wave was caused by some huge sea-monster thing," Rueben said, out of breath and excited. "It was splashing around and making big waves. One of them sloshed all over our ship. We all almost drowned." He shook his head and shuddered. Symon raised a brow and sighed.

"_Almost _is key," he said, "We _almost _drowned. But we didn't. Me and Carmen got to the top, and then Tyn brought up Rueben with his-er…Booster Boots."

"They don't have a name," Tyn interrupted, holding up a finger, "I made them."

Sapphire smiled.

"I'm glad you're all okay," she said lightly.

"So," Crystal said, biting into an oddly juicy peach and getting drops of it all over Mara's and her own face, "How did you boys get out? Did the Grimm swallow you all and then you had to escape by ripping yourself out of its belly? That would've been grossly cool."

Carmen's teammates exchanged glances.

"That's sort of what Symon did," Rueben said, scratching the side of his head. "He jumped into its mouth and shot its belly while Tyn stabbed its eye, Carmen choked its neck, and I drew an x on it's chest with my laser watch."

He smiled and glanced at his fancy looking watch.

"Then Carmen finished it off with his Semblance," Symon finished, looking at Crystal. He gulped down the rest of his milk, leaving a white mustache above his lip.

Crystal giggled.

"Sounds a little extreme for a first-year student's mission," Sapphire commented, setting down her mug. Tyn shrugged.

"It was supposed to be a pretty simple, standard thing, actually," he said. "There just happened to be some huge sea monster there at the time. And we managed to kill it, so that's good."

Sapphire nodded in agreement and hid her smile behind her cup as she sipped her drink.

_Brave, valiant Tyn, _she mentally murmured to herself.

"Well," Crystal said, standing up and stretching, "We'd better head back to classes before-"

She was cut off by the sound of a loud bell ringing.

"Well, that," she said looking around. Most of the students began to get up and leave.

"See you after class," she said, winking at Symon and sashaying cutely off.

—-

That afternoon, when Sapphire had finished her classes and returned to her dorm, she was surprised to find Crystal, sitting on the floor. She had her normal clothes on and her school uniform in her lap, sewing it, or something.

"Hey, Crystal," Sapphire greeted casually, walking past her, "What're you doing?"

Crystal did not look up from her work.

"Sewing," she replied. Sapphire set her books on the dresser and looked at Crystal with a raised brow.

"Sewing?" she asked, in doubt. Crystal just nodded, still staring at her uniform and the needle in her hand.

"Altering…my…uniform," she said, spacing out her words while she focused. Sapphire looked even more confused.

"Why?" she asked, "Is it too small?"

Crystal shook her head.

"Don't worry 'bout it," she mumbled. Sapphire sighed and walked into the bathroom.

"I'm going to the cafe to meet with some of my friends," she called from it. Crystal mumbled something and continued to sew.

Sapphire walked out of the bathroom wearing her usual blue and purple clothes. She walked to the door and paused before leaving.

"And don't forget," she said, walking slowly away, "You're on dinner duty!"

Crystal just murmured a little, "Whatever," as she continued her work.

—-

"I'll take an iced latte with whipped cream and caramel," Mara said, scanning her eyes over the glowing menu that hung above the counter. The man at the counter nodded and typed some numbers into his register.

"That'll be.." he muttered, computing the numbers in his head, "Three lien."

Mara held out the money and the man took it, scanned it, and the gave it back to her.

"Your order will be served in a moment, miss," he said, giving her a light smile and then turning to the next customer. Mara thanked him and sat back down at her table, along with Nathen, Tyn, and two other girls that Mara didn't recognize.

"Uh, Nathen?" Mara asked, looking at them. Nathen turned to look at her.

"Yes?"

"Who are they?" she asked, pointing to them. The two girls looked at Mara and answered her question.

"I'm Val," the girl blond hair with green tips said, smiling her greeting.

"I'm Lucky," the other one with white hair said, "Lucky Livid."

Mara looked at them, confused.

"We're from Haven," they said, almost at the same time. "On Evan's team."

Mara nodded.

"Oh," she said, understanding now. "Team VLET?"

Lucky nodded, smiling.

"The team that's going to win in the Vytal Festival's tournament!" she said as if it were a fact. Val smiled and straightened her bow.

"You must be Mara," she said. Mara nodded.

"Evan said that Nathen told him about you,"

Val continued, sticking her fork into her fancy chocolate crepe. Mara blushed and then playfully elbowed Nathen. He laughed

"What?" he dramatically defended, "We were talking about our dates to the dance!"

Mara's eyes widened.

"To who?!" she asked, a bit too loudly. Val smirked. Lucky giggled.

"To all of us boys," Tyn answered. Mara growled, cheeks scarlet and turned away with her arms crossed.

"Sorry, Mara," Nathen apologized with mock sincerity. Mara made a feeble attempt to stifle her giggle. A strange giggly growl was all that escaped from her mouth and she got the whole table laughing.

"Uh, Ma'am," a skinny waiter interrupted, holding a coffee cup with fluffy whipped cream nearly spilling out the sides and sweet, syrupy caramel drizzled over it.

"Your order."

Mara quickly accepted the drink and placed it on the table.

"Yes, thank you," she said, smiling. The waiter smiled back and then left, wiping his hands on his bright red apron.

"Oo," Lucky said, poring over Mara's drink, "That looks _good_." She licked her lips and stared at it. Val slapped Lucky's face away.

"Quit, Lucky," she said. Lucky held her face and looked at Val with a doom-wishing look in her eyes.

"Hey!" she said angrily, "It's like what you did at breakfast awhile back!" She paused and rubbed her cheek.

"But worse-er." She seemed confused at the word she had just said.

"Worser isn't even a word!" Val said, playfully hitting Lucky's head with a napkin. Lucky shrugged.

"Okay."

"Hey, guys!" It was Sapphire who appeared, holding a plastic cup with a light brown substance in it and smiling.

"Come!" Val said eagerly, patting the seat next to her. "Sit!"

Sapphire accepted Val's invitation and set her mug in front of her.

"What did you get?" Nathen asked. Sapphire shrugged.

"Frozen Hot Chocolate," she said, sipping it.

"No coffee?" Val asked curiously.

Sapphire wrinkled her nose and shook her head.

"Nah, I don't care for the stuff," she replied. Val nodded.

"I see where she's coming from," Lucky said, pointing a finger. "Coffee if really quite bitter and can only be redeemed by plenty of cream, sugar, and creamer."

"I'm pretty sure creamer is the same as cream," Tyn said. Lucky shook her head.

"No," she said, looking upwards as she remembered her fact, "Creamer has no cream. Whereas cream is just cream! Creamer has corn syrup solids-they're nasty for ya-and some milk protein stuff." Everyone nodded their heads slowly as a longs silence stretched over the group.

Suddenly, Nathen stood up.

"I almost forgot!" he exclaimed. The girls looked at him with puzzlement. Tyn's eyes suddenly widened and he too stood up.

"What? What is it?" Sapphire asked. Tyn looked at the girls and slapped his forehead.

"I forgot that me and Nathen told the boys we'd meet them over by gym!" Tyn quickly explained.

"So when you girls asked us if we wanted to hang out here, we totally forgot!" Nathen finished.

Val nodded.

"Then you boys go on and shoo," Val said, standing up and patting the two boys' shoulders as if to push them away. They exchanged glances and shrugged.

"I guess," Nathan began.

"Sorry Mara!" he suddenly blurted and ran off, leaving the shop with the ring of a bell. Tyn scratched the back of his head and shrugged.

"If you girls don't mind, I'll just go," he said politely. "I missed my workout today and…" He trailed off.

"You go," Lucky said, waving her hands. Sapphire shrugged.

"Fine with me," she said. She winked cutely at him and smiled. He grinned and went to leave. Nathen's hand grabbed Tyn's arm and yanked him away, even before Tyn had fully left the cafe.

The girls giggled and shook their heads.

"I'm sure glad that _I _don't have to work out," Sapphire commented, "At least not like them guys."

They giggled and drank their beverages, all except for Val, who poked at her crepe.

"You gonna eat that?" Lucky asked, wiping chocolatey foam from her face. Val scowled until Lucky backed away, continuing her chocolate steamer.

"Keep that up," Val said, taking a bite of her not-so-warm crepe, "And you'll be fat."

Lucky shrugged.

"But I weigh _far _more than you, and yet, I'm much skinnier!" she giggled.

Val rolled her eyes.

"So what?" she replied simply. Lucky shrugged.

"I dunno," she said. Sapphire finished off her frozen hot chocolate and wiped her mouth with a napkin.

"So," she said, hoping to strike up a conversation, "Are you guys excited for the tournament?"

"Am I excited?" Lucky repeated with a 'you've got to be joking' face. "Am I excited? Of course I'm excited! I've been waiting so long for it! And I'm so glad it's happening in my first year and not my second!"

Lucky's face expressed her excitement even more than her loud, squealing voice.

"I'm thinking our team will do pretty good," Val said, nodding with satisfaction. Lucky nodded her agreement.

"I'm hoping that me and Val will make it to the doubles," Lucky bubbled, her bun slightly bobbing as she moved her head. Val shrugged.

"I guess it just depends on your performance at our first fight," Val said, "I am choosing, after all."

Lucky shrugged.

"Okay, but don't think I was predicting the future when you do select me," Lucky said with a wink. Val smiled and turned to Sapphire and Mara.

"How do you think you guys'll do?" she asked.

"Um..," Sapphire began, biting her lip. She recalled Crystal's battle with the Grimm in Forever Fall, and watching Mara spar with someone for sparing class. Crystal, with her semblance and such, would certainly do well. Mara seemed pretty flexible and good at dodging stuff. But she hadn't really seen much of Nathen's skill at all, yet.

"I think we'll do good," she finished, nodding her head. Mara smiled softly.

"I've been really excited about it, really," she said quietly, "And to think that it's only a few weeks away…" She looked up and smiled hopefully.

"Oh, it's just so exciting!"

Sapphire smiled. At least Mara was excited. It seemed she was always quiet about everything, mostly. She could only imagine what Mara had been like as a kid.

"Well," Val said, standing up and stretching, "It's been a lovely time, but we'd better get going. Lucky and I have to train with the rest of our team for the tournament." She smiled and waved at Sapphire and Mara.

"See you guys at the tournament!" She and Lucky smiled, waved, and then left, taking their garbage with them and leaving. A tiny bell confirmed their departure.

"They're nice," Mara commented, taking another sip of her nearly finished latte. Sapphire nodded.

"I love making friends," she said smiling, "I love Beacon!" She crumpled up her plastic cup and tossed it to a nearby garbage can. It landed directly into the can and sounded with the satisfying sound of garbage against garbage. Sapphire seemed amused.

"Never really make shots like that," she murmured.

"Wouldn't you?" Mara said, looking at the trash, "I mean, to be an archer, like you?"

Sapphire shrugged.

"I guess, maybe…sort of…" She giggled and shook her head. Mara smiled.

"I guess we should get going," she said, standing up and taking her empty cup, "Crystal might want to train with us."

Sapphire nodded and stood up.

"Then to the dorm!" she said, smiling.


	27. A New Idea

Sapphire sat on her bed, flipping through a book about Grimm. She didn't really care about the details of Grimm, nor the names of the different species, but learning about all the different types of Grimm was interesting.

"Simia Anguis..," she murmured as she scanned over a page featuring the Grimm with that title. It was a venomous monkey Grimm with sharp fangs, deep purple poison, and, depending on the age or maturity of the Grimm, crooked, jagged claws capable of nasty wounds.

"Oof," she said through bared teeth as she read about the side effects of a single bite from this creature, "Nasty."

She flipped to the middle of the book, wondering what new Grimm she could learn about. A frightening picture of a demonic looking horse and rider Grimm greeted her.

"Augh!" she almost yelled, startled at its beastly appearance. Although most Grimm had similar appearances, at least in color and physical makeup, each seemed frightening in their own different ways. Sapphire read the title of the Grimm.

"A Nucklaleeve?" she wondered out loud after struggling with the pronunciation.

"A horse and rider Grimm," she read, squinting at the small print, "Often scarce, but heavier in desolate, abandoned environments. Few have ever been found, but have been know to be responsible for numerous wrecked villages and homes. In case of contact with the Grimm, remain calm and slowly abandon area."

Sapphire shrugged and continue on the next page.

"Umbra!" she gasped, seeing the familiar illustration of a shadow like Grimm. It was the exact type that had been infesting Fuih Fuirfh.

"Never thought I'd find that," she mumbled, scanning over its page and then skipping to the next one. Another scary looking rabbit-type Grimm, although, some of the images of the smaller ones were kind of cute.

A soft knock on the door jerked her mind from the pages of her book. Sapphire glanced at the door and set her book down.

"Come in," she called.

The door opened and Nathen walked in, his scroll in his hand.

"Hi, Nathen," Sapphire greeted, "Why'd you knock?"

Nathen shrugged.

"Didn't want to interrupt you," he answered, sitting down on Sapphire's bed beside her.

Sapphire nodded slowly.

"Fair enough," she said, "So, what's up?"

Nathen paused and sat there for a moment, then slowly held out his scroll so that Sapphire could see. He slid his fingers on it, revealing what looking like a complex blueprint. Some kind of interesting, familiar weapon with several neat assets and quirks, all laid out to the smallest detail.

"Is that my bow?" Sapphire exclaimed, realizing that it _was _her bow.

Nathen just nodded, not saying anything.

Sapphire's eyes were wide as she studied the blueprint, her mind amazed at the layout.

The arrows, instead of her usual ones that she had to make every week or so, were basically extremely tight springs, tightly compacted into a capsule with a safety lock that kept the capsule from extending into a solid metal arrow.

A revised and honestly much cooler looking version of her quiver was on the side, also laid out in detail. Large cylindrical cases with about fifty small arrow capsules could be loaded into it, which Sapphire would shoot and be able to reload when needed.

There was even a simple little plan on the side of the arrow's tips, which could simply be infused with dust like her current arrow.

"Nathen..," she began, dumbfounded, "How…"

Nathen stood up, tucked his scroll away into his pocket, and then turned for the door.

"I'll send you the blueprints on my scroll," he said before opening the door and then closing it behind him, leaving Sapphire alone in the silence of the room.

She sat there, taking in what she had just seen. Then, she suddenly stood up, stretched, and then looked decidedly around.

Her scroll vibrated.

Sapphire eagerly snatched it from her belt and opened up her messages. There was one from Nathen, title, "Here. Please make this."

Sapphire eagerly pulled it up and scanned through it. It was the exact same thing Nathen had showed her a minute ago.

Sapphire nodded, took a deep breath, and then smiled.

She had a weapon to remodel.

Crystal walked past the weapon tuneup room, frowning at the pounding noises inside. She poked her head in through the door and rolled her eyes.

"What are you doing, Sapphy?" she asked, annoyed, "You're supposed to be training for the Tournament."

Sapphire, amidst all the sparks flying from the metal she was hitting with her hammer, glanced over at Crystal and then back what she was working back on.

"Not every moment of every day," she panted, squinting against the heat.

"Yeah, but what _are _you doing?" Crystal asked, stepping into the room.

It was a dim room, most of the light coming from the one window in the corner. There was a large countertop going from one side of the room to the other, covered in various tools and such. The floor was made of wooden boards, a thin rug at the foot of the counter. A bucket of bullets was near the large anvil that Sapphire was working at.

"This place looks just like the workroom in Vacuo," Crystal mused as she walked to the center of the room, "Where my Blah Blade was born."

"As well as Silverlock," Sapphire added, stopping her banging and taking a breath.

"What are you doing?" Crystal asked for a third time.

"Upgrading my weapon," Sapphire answered, wiping the sweat from her face and wringing out her hands, "Nathen gave me an idea."

"_Nathen _gave you an idea?" Crystal asked, wrinkling her nose, "That can't be good."

Sapphire rolled her eyes.

"No, it's brilliant!" she said, gaining her excitement again, "Look! I really think this will help me in the tournament, as well as in any combat, really." Sapphire held out her scroll, showing her the blueprints that we already up.

Crystal raised a brow.

"Nathen made that?" she asked warily.

Sapphire nodded, smiling.

"Yep!" she said, "And it's awesome! Nathen really is observant, isn't he?"

Crystal rolled her eyes.

"Sure," she said flatly, "So when are you gonna be done?"

Sapphire shrugged.

"Not for a while," she answered, glancing at the large clock on the wall, "It could take me a few days, including the time I need to spend learning how to use its upgraded from."

Crystal's eyes twitched.

"Wait, what?" she exploded, "You can't spend a bunch of days building a weapon! We need to train! We need to win! If we lose, you'll never see me again!"

Sapphire chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"It's fine, Crystal," she said, walking back to the anvil and taking the hammer, "It's only a few days. We still have a few weeks until the tournament."

Crystal glared at Sapphire with her lavender eyes and then walked slowly away, her fists balled up tightly at her sides.

"Tell Nathen I think he's fat!" Crystal called from the hallway as she closed the door. Sapphire shook her head and sighed, continuing in her work with eagerness.

Sapphire slowly locked another capsule, adding it to another magazine. This section of her work was long, tedious, and delicate, making Sapphire feel tired after every hour.

She carefully locked another, accidentally doing it wrong. It unlocked and shot out of her hand in arrow from. Fortunately, it had been a plain, non-dust infused arrow, and didn't explode or anything. But it did knock over the bucket of bullets she had moved to the other side of the room.

She gasped and made a high squeak as it shot away, startling her.

She frowned and sighed, this not being the only time something like this had happened.

She went and picked it up, her eyes tired of the dim light of the room. There were lights, but Sapphire didn't want to waste energy, nor did she like it when the light reflected off the metal and into her eyes, the light hanging right above her.

She was tired of making arrows, and felt like it would never be worth it. But as she gathered up the ammunition she had made that day, she felt proud at how many arrows she had built, and happily tucked them away.

Sapphire took in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and then nocked a capsule, stretching herself as she did. Then she opened her eyes, squinted, and then shot it, aiming at a small, solitude tree in the rose garden. The capsule extended into an arrow upon leaving the bow, as Sapphire had released the lock keeping it all in, and hit the dead center of the tree, exploding into flames.

Sapphire grinned smugly and loaded another, aiming it at the now burning tree.

The tree practically turned to steam as the fire and ice collided, rising up a huge puff of it.

"Ha!" Sapphire shouted triumphantly, jumping up and down, "It works!"

Nathen nodded approvingly and clapped his hands, Mara accompanying him. Crystal just nodded.

"Neat, Sapphy," she said, somewhat bored.

"Well done," Nathen said, winking. Sapphire beamed and winked back.

The hard work had been worth it, and now she knew that she would do a better job at the tournament. Not only would she be able to shoot faster and farther and have more ammunition, but the arrows also seemed to do better all together in damage and dust quantity.

"Thanks a lot, Nathen," Sapphire said gratefully, shaking his hand. Nathen shrugged.

"Just doing my job as a teammate," he said simply.

Sapphire nodded, smiling.

"I know," she said.


	28. Training

"No, Mara!" Crystal howled to her teammate, pointing to another direction, "You're supposed to go _towards _Nathen, not away!"

Mara stopped mid-flight and hovered there, flapping her wings and panting.

"I'm sorry!" she yelled assertively, clenching her fists, "But you didn't tell me that before!"

The day was unbearably hot and Crystal had ordered that they all practice their team attacks for the tournament. Currently, they were practicing Mara and Nathen's move.

"I don't care!" Crystal shouted, sweat rolling down her face, "That's just common sense! Nathen is over there; you are trying to fly _above _him so that he can jump off of your shoulders from a high place!" She kicked the ground with frustration and watched a small cloud of dust drift away from her boot. Mara just grunted and looked at the ground with frustration.

Sapphire was leaning up against a tree right behind Mara. She was enjoying the cooling bursts of wind that Mara was producing and listening to Crystal scold everyone about their 'sloppy' performance.

"And Nathen," Crystal said, turning to Nathen, who was still perched on the high branch of a tree, "You shouldn't be on the high spot yet!"

Nathen groaned and covered his eyes with his hand.

"Look," he said, getting frustrated, "We've only just started this afternoon and you're acting like we should have had it mastered after the first three tries!"

Crystal rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue.

"Well, it's super simple," she defended stubbornly, "It's like, the easiest thing ever!"

Nathen shook his head.

"What's it even called?" he asked, annoyed. Crystal grinned.

"Leapfrog," she answered with an upturned chin. "And that's _not _to punish you."

Nathan just sighed.

"Look," he said, "Me and Mara will try _one _more time, and then we'll move on to some other ones, okay? If we spend too much time on this one, then we'll never get to the others."

"Fine, whatever..," Crystal mumbled, just loud enough for Nathen to hear. She walked over to Sapphire and slumped down beside her. She watched as Mara bolted ahead of Nathen and flew up high, above the tree.

"You know," Crystal said slowly, her eyes fixed on Nathen and Mara as they performed their team attack, "I'm thinking that our team attack-yours and mine-will do especially good if we do it at the same time as Leapfrog is going."

Sapphire nodded.

"I suppose," she murmured. Crystal sighed. Then, she suddenly bolted upright and smiled excitedly.

"There ya go!" She cheered, jumping up and down as Nathen leaped off of Mara's shoulders and launched at a flimsy looking target with a shot of his scourge.

"I told you that you'd get it!"

She jumped up and down, ignoring the possible consequences of the summer heat, and cheered. Mara breathed a sigh of relief and fluttered down. Sapphire clapped from her place at the tree.

"Now the question is," Crystal said mysteriously, "Is Nathen okay? And did he completely destroy his target?"

Mara shrugged.

"I'm not sure," she said simply. Only a few minutes later, Nathen came walking out of the bushes, holding a small piece of the target and grinning.

"Done," he said, tossing it to Crystal and plopping down by Sapphire. Crystal bent over and picked up the piece of target, observing it.

"Well done, Mr. Verdant," she said nodding her head.

"Are you going to keep calling me that now?" Nathen asked. Crystal shrugged.

"I will when I want to," she said. Nathen nodded and sat there, fanning himself with a large leaf.

"The tournament is in seven weeks," Crystal said seriously, beginning to pace back and forth, "So we need to be ready. Be ready to win. Reap victory from the other academies that headmasters have sown. Be ready to pick teams off the charts and raised our team's stats higher and higher as the tournament progresses." She raised her finger and closed her eyes, continuing to pace.

"We must be ready to see our team name on the victory picture at the end of every battle," she continued, "And we must be ready to face other teams that are much, _much _better than the teams here in Beacon. Our team is extraordinary, and I have faith in every one of you that you will fight with every ounce of strength you've got."

She stopped and glanced at the team, a serious look in her eyes that was alien to the team.

"We will give the other teams no mercy," she said, continuing to pace, "And we will fight them as though they are our _greatest _enemies. I, personally, will fight the teams like they killed my biological father."

She looked at Sapphire.

"And I want you, Sapphy, to fight them like they're a bunch of punks who were raised by a bunch of stinky, sick, fat people who turn into werewolves at night!" she said, raising her voice and making a snarly face. Sapphire leaned back.

"Okay..," she said. Crystal looked at Nathen,

"And you, Nathen," she said, eyeing him creepily, "Fight them like they stole Mara and trapped her for fun! And I mean _fun, _man!" She snapped her teeth at him and turned to Mara, who flinched at her gaze.

"And you," she said, pausing to think of a good way to describe what she wanted. She thought for a long, awkward moment and then suddenly shoved her face into Mara's.

"You will fight like they beat up Nathen to shreds but he was still alive! And if you defeated the other team, he would propose to you and you would get married to him that next day!"

Mars's cheeks lit up immediately and she glanced sheepishly at Nathen. Nathen covered his face with his hands, embarrassed and very hopeful of that very thing.

"So there!" Crystal shrieked, stepping away from her team and stomping her foot. The whole team look different from before. Sapphire looked confused and amused at Nathen and Mara's situation; Nathen was hiding his face from view; Mara's cheeks were scarlet and she was looking at the ground, and Crystal looked triumphant and satisfied.

"Okay," Crystal said, as if she had never just said any of that, "Let's review the pairs for the team attacks." She walked over and sat down by the tree, creating a semicircle with her teammates.

"Well?" she said, looking expectantly at her team.

Sapphire straightened up and cleared her throat.

"Um..," she began, thinking deeply, "Mara and Nathen are Leapfrog…Crystal and I are Skysea…" She thought some more.

"Nathen and me are Ocean…Mara and Crystal are Flowerpot…And that's all of them, right?" She looked hopefully at Crystal. Crystal laughed and shook her head.

"Almost," she said. "There's still me and Nathen, Violets, and you and Mara, Muddy Water."

Mara groaned and Sapphire stuck out her tongue.

"Why that name?" Mara complained. Sapphire nodded her head in agreement. Crystal frowned.

"It doesn't matter!" she snorted, "As long as it doesn't sound lame, I find it perfectly acceptable." She smiled proudly and lifted up her chin.

"Good team attack names go good with good team members."

Sapphire shrugged.

"Okay," she said simply.

"I heard Professor Port yelling in the bathroom today," Crystal said with an eager voice.

"What did he say?" Sapphire asked, foolishly interested. Then she suddenly drew back.

"Wait, what?" she said, suddenly angry, "Why am I interested? Why would I learn such inappropriate and private things? What is wrong with me? What is wrong with you?!" She stood up and crossed her arms.

"I'm heading back to the dorm and studying for tomorrow's test!" Then she walked away, mumbling. Mara raised a brow.

"Is she okay?" she asked, slightly concerned. Crystal shrugged.

"She acts like that when she's hot, tired, annoyed, and finds out she was doing something immature and naughty," she said simply. She suddenly turned her attention to Mara with eager eyes.

"You wanna know what he said?!"

—

The next morning, after everyone but Crystal had gotten up and dressed, Sapphire noticed that Crystal was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Crystal?" Sapphire asked as she set a plate of fluffy pancakes at the half-occupied table. Nathen shrugged.

"I'm not sure," he said, eyeing the pancakes. Sapphire raised a brow.

"You can start eating now," she said. Nathen smiled and snatched a pancake off the plate, wolfing it down and reaching for another. Mara smiled and bit into her warm pancake with pleasure.

"I last saw her go into the bathroo-" Mara was cut off from another loud voice.

"Well helloooooooo Beautiful!" Crystal yelled, sliding haphazardly to the table, nearly crashing into it. Her was in its usual tight ponytail, but it was her uniform that made everyone stare.

"Crystal, why?!" Nathen yowled, clearly very agitated.

Crystal's uniform, now finished being altered was significantly tighter at the waist, outlining her shape in extreme measures.

"How do you like _them _apples?" she said, waving her hips back and forth, her skirt swishing along. Nathen averted his gaze to a small plant hanging above the door. Mara looked away, and Sapphire gave Crystal a scolding glare.

"Crystal, you horrible child!" Sapphire yelled angrily.

"Well, it isn't _my _fault that these uniforms aren't very highlighting!" Crystal reasoned, putting her hands on her hips. Sapphire sighed and shook her head.

"But you shouldn't be trying to show off!" Sapphire shot back. Crystal looked annoyed.

"But what about all those other girls who are practically wearing nothing but cotton balls to hide parts not aloud to be exposed? I'm not _that _bad, Sa-pph-ire!"

The two cousins began a donnybrook of nonsense, yelling and screeching at each other while Nathen and Mara exchanged glances and laughed.

"Well you're just saying that because your mom taught you to dress modestly!" Crystal screamed, her face red.

"If she hadn't, you'd be in a bikini right now!"

"No I wouldn't, maniac!" Sapphire roared, her face just as red.

"Prove it!" Crystal shrieked, her fists clenched.

"How am I supposed to prove something like that?!" Sapphire howled, looking about ready to slap Crystal in the face.

"Ha!" Crystal shouts as if drunk, "Ha ha!" She pointed her finger at Sapphire and swayed on her feet.

"You _can't! _Because it's true!" She began to laugh hysterically until her nose began to run.

"That is it!" Sapphire screamed at the top of her lungs. She jumped at Crystal and tackled her to the floor, beginning a clumsy floor fight. Nathen and Mara watched with amused faces as the two of them rolled on the floor, hitting each other and screaming into each other's ears.

"Silly cousins," Mara giggled. Nathen smirked. The two of them locked eyes and the sounds of Crystal and Sapphire's fight slowly seemed to disappear as they focused on each other, a warm feeling glowing inside them.

They were suddenly snapped back to attention as a lamp flew across the table and smashed into the wall, shattering teal glass all over the floor.

"Guys!" Mara yelled, standing up and looking very mad. "That was my favorite lamp! You just broke it and I _just_ bought that last week from the store!" She was yelling quite loud, loud enough for Sapphire and Crystal to stop fighting and look at Mara.

"It even had Beacon's symbol on it..," she murmured sadly, lowering slowly to her chair. Nathen patted her back.

"I'll buy you a new one" he promised assuredly. Mara gave him a look and turned away.

"No," she said gloomily, "Don't. You don't have to."

Nathen smiled.

"But I will." He stroked his hand on her cheek.

"Nathen, stop..," Mara said, halfheartedly brushing his hand away. "It's just a lamp."

"Oh, okay," he said, shrugging. "If it isn't _that _important to you..,"

Mara seemed surprised at his response, inwardly hoping he _would _buy her a new lamp, but remained quiet.

Sapphire stood up.

"Well," she said, brushing herself off and giving Crystal a horrible stare, "It appears _someone _didn't get enough sleep last night."

Crystal puffed out her cheeks and took in a deep breath.

"What makes you say that?" she asked hotly.

"I heard Crystal Tett music and saw a white glow, along with the lumpy shape of, I don't know, maybe YOU under your blanket?" Sapphire said, her face red.

"What?" Crystal yelled, "I do _not _play Crystal Tett! That's a pixel-y game! And I do not play pixel-y games. Much to choppy for my poor beautiful eyes." She crossed her arms and look away. Sapphire gritted her teeth and shook her head.

"But you have all Crystal brand products!" Sapphire argued, "Crystal Geyser water, Crystal deodorant, Crystal salt…The list goes on! Even though it isn't all the same brand, it has your name on it, so it only makes more sense that you'd play _Crystal _Tett!"

"What kind of reasoning is that?!" Crystal demanded, stomping away. Sapphire just snorted and snatched a pancake from the plate. She ripped off half of it and shoved it in her mouth, chewing furiously.

Mara and Nathen signed and exchanged glances, rolling their eyes.

"I hope you get a good score on this morning's test," Mara said, switching the subject.

"You too," Sapphire mumbled, finishing her pancake and eating another.


	29. Nearing the Tournament

"O-M-Gosh!" Crystal shouted, bursting out the doors of the school and looking up into the sunny sky, "Would ya look at that!"

Nathen and Mara, who had been chatting by the fountain, quickly looked up. The first thing they saw was the sun, its blinding brightness causing them to look quickly away and rub their eyes.

"Not funny, Crystal!" Nathen said, unamused. Crystal frowned.

"No, not the sun," Crystal said impatiently, "Look over _there_." She pointed near the top of Beacon Academy's tower where a huge, floating building-like thing hovered high above it.

"No way!" Mara breathed, holding her books tighter with excitement.

"The arena," Nathen observed, "It's huge!"

"And we have to fly a ship up to there," Crystal added, smiling.

"Everyone watching and competing does," Sapphire said, appearing from behind the fountain.

"Hey, Sapphy," Crystal greeted casually.

"I wonder how they built that," Mara marveled, still looking at it.

Nathen shrugged.

"Who knows?"

"Uh, duh," Crystal said as if the answer was clear as day, "Maybe the people who built it?" She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"And the tournament starts tomorrow!" Sapphire squealed, very excited.

Mara gave a short gasp.

"What?" she said, turning towards Sapphire and getting excited. "Oh my gosh!" She shrieked, spreading her wings and suddenly flying up, dancing and spinning in the air, "That's so close! It' like…like, _tomorrow_! I can't wait! I'm so excited! We will WIN! Let's destroy those teams and melt their bones!"

She continued to yell and squeal things alike to that, which became quieter and quieter as she flew higher and farther away.

Everyone stood there, eyes wide and faces blank with confusion.

"I think..," Crystal said slowly, "We just saw the opposite side of Mara."

"The part of her boxed up and forgotten..," Sapphire murmured.

"The one of many things I find easiest to love about her," Nathen said dreamily. It wasn't until after Crystal and Sapphire had stared at him and started laughing did Nathen realize what he had just said.

"I'm sorry!" he said, quickly looking for a way to explain. Crystal clicked her teeth. Sapphire nodded.

"It's okay," Sapphire said at the same time as Crystal replied.

"Keep it coming," Crystal replied dreamily. "I _love_ romance."

"And you _love _Symon," Sapphire said with a grin. Crystal glared at Sapphire.

"And you _loooovvvveeee _Tyn!" Crystal shot back, her teeth bared. Sapphire just stood there, looking down at Crystal with an angry face.

Nathen chucked.

Mara suddenly appeared with a burst of wind, blowing everyone's hair and catching their attention.

"So sorry," she said, out of breath as she landed."I just…um, get really excited when I'm, uh…excited."

"Of course you do," Crystal said, "You're excited. Why shouldn't you feel excited if you were excited?" Crystal shook her head and grinned. Mara sighed and smiled. Nathen smiled, too. Everyone smiled.

"Well," Sapphire, trying not to explode into an excited flurry of eagerness for the tournament, "We're leaving for the arena tomorrow morning, _early. _So we'd better get some good shuteye tonight." She eyed Crystal and giggled.

"Okay..," Crystal said, backing away.

"I just want you to know," Crystal said, addressing her team, "I think you guys will do great, even though I think that you guys stink sometimes." She smiled and closed her eyes. Nathen and Mara exchanged glances and laughed.

"Thanks, Crystal," Sapphire said.

"Remember," Nathen said, "Victory can only be truly gained by the ones truly worthy of it."

Mara nodded her head.

"And we have to remember that we are all working together," she said softly. "A team is made up of many parts. A body doesn't have only a head or only a hand; it has many parts that all work together to function."

"And friendship is an unbreakable bond," Sapphire said, looking at the blossoms of a tree. "No true friend will break apart from the other unless the other becomes corrupt."

"Uh," Crystal said, shattering the scene, "You guys sound like a bunch of old people reevaluating life." She stretched and shook her head, her ponytail waving behind her.

Sapphire, Nathen, and Mara all looked at each other and shrugged.

"She does make a point," Mara said quietly.

"I'm going to the dorm," Crystal announced, "Here's another saying-thing: Remember to practice your team attacks or you'll all die."

Then she walked away, disappearing from view behind a wall.


	30. The Tournament- Round One

"For our first battle of the Vytal Festival Tournament," Professor Port's voice boomed, "We have team CMSN of Beacon!"

Crystal, Mara, Nathen, and Sapphire walked out into the arena, its light blinding them at first. The millions of people in the crowd cheered wildly and waved banners and flags, calling names and clapping.

The arena was huge. There were several levels of seating in the audience, millions, if not billions of seating, and the whole thing seemed to be without a roof, seeing the clear blue sky above. It was hexagon shaped; top to bottom, including the fighting rink itself, which was soon going to be split into two different terrains.

Glowing screens surveying the battle were everywhere, in the stands, outside the entrance to the arena, and above the spot where Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck were sitting, microphones at their mouths.

"Versus team VLET of Haven!"

"What?!" Sapphire gasped, looking to the opposite side of the ring. There stood team VLET, Val looking about as shocked and excited as Sapphire was. Lucky was jumping up and down, soaking in the praise of the audience and waving to some familiar faces in the crowd. Evan waved to Nathen and Tera, Evan's cousin, just nodded to the team.

"Oh. My. Gosh!" Crystal yelled, jumping up and down excitedly, "We get to face _you _guys! This is so great!"

"Hey, Val!" Sapphire called, easily catching her attention, "Happy fighting!"

"You too!" Val called back with a smile.

Sapphire heart raced in her chest. Although she was excited, she was also very nervous. This was the tournament. It was here and there was no going back.

"C-M-S-N!" A group of feminine voices cheered, "We're cheering for team Crim-son! Will they fall? Will they lose? It's really up to them to chose!"

Sapphire looked around, spotting the source of the noise. It was Misty and her team, all wearing matching cat ears and holding bright pink sparkly pom poms.

"Gooooooo CMSN!" they all shouted in unison. Misty winked at Sapphire and stuck her tongue out.

Sapphire winked back and smiled.

Suddenly, through all the noise of the crowd, a sound of something electronic moving ripped through the air. It was loud and ambient.

Two long screen-like things with different symbols representing different terrains were flipping through each terrain. Like when you pull a lever and try to get a match in Bejeweled. The crowd still cheered, but it was a little quieter.

"Good luck!" Lucky giggled, eager to fight. Evan nodded and pulled out his sword, glowing a bright orange-red with sparks coming off of it. Tera pulled out a gun of some sort and Val simply glanced at her unique looking bracelet.

_Don't tell me that thing shoots… _Sapphire said to herself as she examined the small holes in each individual bead of the bracelet and the silver lining around them.

The flipping screen on team VLET's side stopped on the green symbol of two trees.

"Okay..," Sapphire said nervously.

Then, the screen on team CMSN's side stopped on the blue symbol of a snowflake.

Lucky made a fist and seemed to punch the air.

"Yesss!" she said, clearly happy.

Suddenly, the floor on both sides of the platform they were standing on, began to fold away, rumbling and vibrating the arena. A long strip of land emerged from the floor, replacing what had folded away. It was like that of a forest, green and full of trees.

The other side, CMSN's, opened up to an icy blue terrain, spiking with ice, and covered in snow. Lucky began to dance a jig, while Eva shrugged.

"Three!" Professor Port said, his voice deep.

Crystal pulled out her sword and stood rooted to her spot.

"Two!"

Sapphire gritted her teeth and clutched her boomerang.

"One!"

The crowd cheered and screamed. Lucky glanced all around her and Mara and Nathen pulled out their weapons.

"Begin!"

The words, though not too loud, seemed to explode in Sapphire's ears. One moment, she couldn't move, rooted to the spot. The next, she was dodging a bunch of bullets whistling through the air. She dodged them with a series of brisk movements, escaping a massive explosion behind her with a smooth flip, landing neatly on her feet.

Val, who had begun shooting at Sapphire with her bracelet of bullets, suddenly ran at her, teeth gritted and a look of determination fixed on her face. She jumped at Sapphire, fist out to deal a good blow to her face. Sapphire dogged, only to move out of the way of a swift slice from a shield protruding from Val's bracelet and then a few more punches and kicks. Sapphire jumped with a flip over Val, kicking at her head as she flew over her. Val's arm went up, covered by the her shield, and blocked the kick. Sapphire landed on the other side of her, only to be punched by Val in the face. She stepped back from the hit, and quickly dodged another attack.

"Nice and dodgy!" Val panted, spinning and moving as she dodged Sapphire's hits. Sapphire laughed, but tried all the more to land a firm blow in her opponent. Then, after another spree of hits and dodges, Val aimed a well placed kick at Sapphire's head. But Sapphire saw it coming. She pulled out her boomerang, clicked it into her pistol form, and swiped her hand up, knocking Val's leg roughly away, and then shooting her, right in the shoulder.

Val cried out, her aura taking a big drop. Then she turned around and back handspringed away, attempting to kick Sapphire as she fled.

Meanwhile, Evan and Nathen fought, Evan's fiery sword clanging against Nathen's armor and Nathen's scourge making this extremely difficult for Evan.

"Not-uh!" Nathen managed to grunt as Evan's sword hit his silver shoulder blade, making bright red sparks fly off his sword, "Bad!"

"Thanks!" Evan panted, turning around and making another valiant effort of hitting Nathen with his fiery sword. Nathen dodged the blow and managed to kick Evan nicely in the face.

Crystal lodged her sword into the ground right in front of Lucky, using the same strategy as she had with Brook, at Beacon. It succeeded, but Lucky's aura was much higher than Brook's and been when Crystal had used it on her. Lucky quickly recovered from it, sprinting suddenly ahead to Crystal's team's side.

"Hey!" Crystal shouted, racing after her. Lucky ran on, near the icy terrain and suddenly pulled out two white blades. In one swift moment, she jumped up into the air, slid the blades into a slot in her boots, and landed after a flip, neatly on the ice and immediately skated cleanly away. Crystal, on the other hand, slipped as soon as her foot touched the ice and fell hard on the ground. She flashed purple and stood up immediately, using her sword for support. Lucky skated away, laughing.

"Nice!" she giggled. She then skated swiftly towards Crystal and kicked at her, using her feet like blades. Crystal dodged each attempt, but labored to stay on her feet. The ground was so slippery!

"Got you!" Mara yelled as Tera was caught in a flurry of bullets, shot by Mara.

Tera's aura fell like rain, and she dropped to the ground, panting. Mara and Tera's fight had at first been like Val and Sapphires; hand to hand combat. But it had quickly evolved as the distance between the two decreased and Mara was able to turn invisible and shoot at her with her gun in its machine gun form. Mara finished her off with a quick punch, aided by some aura, and sent Tera flying into a boulder. She smacked into it and flashed a deep purple.

The loud 'you've been eliminated' noise erupted from the speakers.

"Oooh!" Came Professor Port's loud voice, "And it looks like Tera Orchid has been eliminated from a swift attack by Mara Gi!"

"And in the first four minutes of the battle!" Oobleck shot out, taking a quick sip from his coffee mug.

"Perhaps she wasn't the…strongest member of her team."

"Better luck for her _next _tournament!" Port said heartily.

Tera sighed and walked sadly away, led by some escorts.

"Nice work, Mara!" Crystal hollered, now back on the dirt instead of the ice. Mara acknowledged Crystal's praise with a nod of her head and ran to help Sapphire.

"There!" Sapphire shouted, after managing to hit Val away. Val quickly ran out from behind the icy spike jutting up from the ground, holding it in her arms. She threw it swiftly at Sapphire, while racing to the left, hoping Sapphire would jump that way to dodge. And she was right.

Sapphire easily dodged the ice, but was smashed in the face by Val's shield. She fell hard onto the icy ground, partially slipping and sliding to the right. Val began to beat up Sapphire, grinning as her aura level went from green to yellow…to orange…

"And it looks like Sapphire Lante may be letting Val Verde polish her off like a pair of dusty shoes!" Oobleck said in his usual fast tone.

"I suppose she may _also _be the weaker member of the team!" Port said, observing Sapphire, who lay face-down on the ice

"Yes!" Val cried out triumphantly about to finish her off.

But Sapphire had also made a plan.

She suddenly stood up, dazed, and jumped in front of Val. Flashing blue, a nearly invisible dome seemed to flash around the two of them, then disappeared. A glowing blue outline of Sapphire floated swiftly from her, as did a glowing blue outline of Val. Both outlines melted into each other and then, with another flash of blue, it returned to normal.

"Oh ho!" Port laughed, examining the scene before him, "It seems Sapphire Lante has used her semblance and swapped physical status with Val Verde!"

"A truly smart move!" Oobleck said, pushing up his spectacles.

Sapphire panted and rushed forward, wrapping her elbow around the shocked Val's neck. Then, with some help with the non-friction rule of the ice, she shot her pistol-form boomerang, propelling her and Val forward, and slid to the forest terrain of the other side. Sapphire let go of Val, sending her flying towards Crystal.

"Crystal!" Sapphire shouted, "Home Run 3!"

Crystal immediately turned around and swung her sword like a bat, smacking Val away into a spike of ice.

"Val Verde has been eliminated due to aura level!" Port announced as the elimination sound played. "And by some sort of team attack by Crystal Minkh and Sapphire Lante!"

"Quite a pity to team VLET," Oobleck said, shaking his head. "Two members in; two out."

"Ha!" Crystal shouted, spitting in the dirt.

"Watch out!" Lucky shrieked, suddenly appearing behind Crystal. Crystal ducked, only to be attacked by a series of hits and slices by Lucky and her ice skate blades.

Crystal flashed purple with every hit.

"That's it!" she roared, clearly agitated. Apparently, the two of them had been fighting each other angrily for some time, getting on each other's nerves.

Crystal swung around and sliced her sword through the air, Lucky quickly dodging most of them.

"We don't have a leader!" Evan called from a tree. Lucky nodded.

"Then let's do Firemist!" she called. "It may be our only chance!"

Evan nodded, jumping off the tree limb and sliding to a halt on the ice. Crystal was there, ready to destroy him. But as she was nearing him, Lucky appeared, skating at a blurring speed. When she raced past him, she snatched his hand, taking him along with her, and then began spinning in circles. Evan's hand glowed red, and the redness encased Val and him. The two of them suddenly began to spin _very _fast, Evan holding his sword out. Together, they took on the appearance of a reddish-gray mess of a spike tornado.

"How are they going so fast?!" Crystal yelled, confused as the tornado sped directly for her.

"It must be his semblance!" Sapphire called back.

"Yeah!" Crystal said, struggling as she blocked the insanely fast slices of Evan's sword with her own, clanging and making sparks fly.

"Mara! Nathen!" Crystal screamed, "Leapfrog! North!"

Nathen and Mara immediately jumped into action. Mara flew ahead of VLET's 'Firemist', and stay hovering in the air, her wings flapping hard. Nathen raced forward towards a tree, running up it and climbing it, jumping, flipping, and racing up the branches. He then jumped out to the tree, shooting his scourge quickly for momentum, and flew towards where Mara was. He landed on her shoulders, faced the other way, and prepared his scourge. Mara swiftly transformed her gun into a high-impact sniper, shooting it downward with a burst of deep purple gravity dust, and flying up, boosting Nathen up. For the split second he was in the air, he concentrated hard on the tornado below him, his eyes flashing green.

_There._

Nathen shot himself downwards, cracking his scourge and propelling himself towards Crystal, Evan, and Lucky.

Crystal raced out of the way, slipping and then sliding the rest of the way back to the forest side of the arena. Sapphire followed, and then carefully aimed two arrows-fire and ice-to the spot where Nathen was aimed for, grinning at how fast and smooth the process had been. Crystal scrambled to her feet and pulled out her sword, ready to finish them off.

It all happened in a blur.

Nathen landed, exploding with fire from the fiery bullet Mara had shot ahead of time, disbanding Evan and Lucky's tornado and lowing their auras. His own dropped on the chart, signaling the elimination sound.

Crystal slapped her forehead and groaned.

Sapphire quickly let her two arrows fly, the fire and ice erupting into a cloud of steam. Lucky and Evan turned to escape, but Crystal appeared, slamming them both in turn into the audience, well, into the invisible barrier that separated the audience and the ring. Lucky and Evan's auras flashed down. The elimination noise sounded for a fifth time.

"Oh! And it's triple knockout!" Port said merrily.

"Nathen Verdant eliminated by aura level; Lucky Livid and Evan Vermillion by aura, as well!"

"And those two were indeed the two remaining members of team VLET!" Oobleck yelled, specks of spit falling onto his microphone.

"Victory for team CMSN!" Port announced, arising a new round of cheers from the crowd.

"We did it!" Mara called excitedly.

"Of course we did!" Crystal said proudly, "We always win! And will!"

"Yeeeeesssss!" Sapphire screeched, jumping up and down.

Nathen stood up and shook his head.

"I'm okay," he said, rubbing his head.

"Hey," Crystal said, walking over to him, "Nice shot, but remember what to do so you don't hurt yourself, okay?"

Nathen nodded.

"I know" he said, "But I might have been sliced or gotten caught in the middle of their tornado if I had done what I should've, so…I kind of had to."

Crystal nodded. "Whatever," she said, shaking his hand.

"Well done!" Lucky said, skipping over. Her face, though happy, showed a bit of disappointment.

"I guess this means we can't win the tournament," Evan said slowly.

"Yep!" Crystal said happily, "There's always next tournament!"

Sapphire elbowed Crystal and smiled apologetically.

"You guys did a great job," she said. Lucky beamed.

"Thanks! You too!"

Crystal nodded.

"And team CMSN moves on to the doubles round!" Port said. The crowd cheered all the more.

"C-M-S-N!" MACE cheered, leaning over the seats, "We're cheering for team Crim-son! Who's moving on-for doubles round? Team CMSN will bring everyone else to the ground! Goooooo CMSN!"

Sapphire smiled and waved to them, winking.

"Good work, team!" Crystal said, patting Mara on the back.


	31. The Tournament- Crest Battle

"I liked _that _team!" Crystal said, leaning back in her seat. The last few fights had been enjoyable to watch. Currently, a team from Shade had just defeated a team from Haven.

"The leader, Thorn Son was quite the buff guy!" Crystal said, staring at the leaders rocky muscles. Sapphire rolled her eyes.

"Haven really isn't doing too good," she commented, remembering the five previous fights. Four Haven teams had fought, and only one had won.

"And that girl with the pink hair," Crystal continued, watching the team disappear from view, "Kirby Meta; she was really funny to watch. She was hardly wearing a stitch of clothing! I wish I could dress like that..,"

Sapphire elbowed Crystal.

"What did I say?" Nathen said, exasperated. Crystal shrugged.

"Anyway," she said, completely ignoring Nathen's question, "I think your sister's team may be up soon, Sapphy."

Sapphire gasped and looked around excitedly.

"What? Where!" she said eagerly.

"I saw them hurry away after team GOLD and team KATT finished," Crystal said, looking at the stat board.

"Peter, I do think that last battle was one to remember," Oobleck said, remembering the humor of the recent fight.

"Ha!" Port laughed, lifting his hand to his mouth, "Indeed it was! Although, I do think that bribing other teams' members should be banned. Especially _female _bribes!"

The crowd laughed and cheered.

"And now," Port said, "We continue onto the Teams round. Next up we have team CREST of Beacon!"

Crystal gasped as she saw team CRST emerge from the entrance to the ring and step out into the center, waving.

"Versus team MACE of Vacuo!"

It was Sapphire who gasped next, shocked that her fourth year sister was fighting her first year friends.

"Yeah, Symon!" Crystal boomed, jumping up and down in front of Sapphire,

"Smash 'em to pulp!"

Symon caught sight of Crystal and winked. Crystal sat back in her seat with a romantic sigh.

"Oh, Symon," she mumbled sillily, "You handsome little devil..," Her cheeks were flushed and she looked funny.

Team MACE stepped out into the center of the ring, arising more cheers.

"Go Vacuo!" a man shouted.

"Go Carmen!" a girl called, waving.

"Ah, and it seems this is one of our first fights containing a first year team and a fourth year team!" Oobleck observed, pushing up his spectacles. Port laughed.

"Yes, and it seems this will be a battle of both skill _and _ strength, judging by the appearance of both teams. No offense."

Team MACE giggled.

"None taken!" Misty called towards the Beacon teachers' booth.

The teachers laughed and quickly continued their job.

The flipping screen-things appears again, making loud shifting noises.

"Go Misty!" Sapphire cried, waving her hands in the air. Misty nodded and winked back, grinning.

"You're cheering in vain, Sapphy," Crystal said, digging her hand into a large bucket of buttery popcorn. Sapphire shook her head and giggled.

"I don't think so," she said.

Team MACE's side landed on a gray mountain with a thunderbolt on top.

Team CRST's landed on a red volcano.

Then the aren rumbled and did the usual terrain switch.

"Go lava!" Crystal shouted. Sapphire looked confused.

"What?" she asked, raising a brow.

"Team CRST's side is all fiery and lava-y," she explained, "So I'm cheering for..,"

She stood up again and put her hands to her mouth. "Lava!"

Sapphire rolled her eyes.

"Go MACE!" she cheered.

"Three!" Port said, raising the tension of everyone,

"Two! One!"

Misty winked in Sapphire's direction again.

"Go!"

Misty immediately pulled out her silver gun, shoving large crystals of ice dust into it and loading it. Carmen simply ran forward, fist out to punch anyone or anything in his path. Symon ran, jumped off of Chartreuse's shoulders, and then bolted for the mountain.

Ember immediately ran at Tyn, who whipped out his staff and began to twirl and whack it around, boring and hitting his opponent.

"Sunny Flair!" Carmen suddenly shouted, his fist narrowly missing Amber's face.

Reuben, who had just been roughly slapped, flipped away, racing towards the mountain.

"And it seems team CRST has already called out a team attack!" Port announced.

"Interesting indeed," Oobleck agreed.

Symon and Reuben had reached the top of the mini mountain in a short amount of time and had began carrying out the plan. Rueben bent onto his knee; Symon's bionic left wrist began to spin rapidly, the hand clicking into the wrist and replacing with a dial-thing. Then they both fired.

A rain of bullets and a long, red laser burst out form the top of the mountain, pelting the ground, shattering the small glass mirror-shields that Chartreuse's semblance had created, and causing Ember and Misty to flee from the area.

"Ooooh!" Port said, "Looks dangerous!"

"A real_ deadline_, I'd say!" Oobleck said, his attempt at a pun resulting in an unamused face from Port.

Misty jumped from the dangerous red fury of Reuben and Symon's weapons, and ran around to the back of the mountain. She jumped up, lodged her blade, sticking out from her gun, into the rocky side of it, and pulled herself up to the top. Seeing the backs of the two boys, she ran, slid, and tripped both of them. Symon quickly changed his fall into a back handspring. Rueben fell and tumbled down the mountain, his laser stopping abruptly.

Symon stood up and dodged a few well-aimed kicks and punches, returning some of them with greater force.

Misty and Symon continued in extreme hand to hand combat, neither winning or losing much. That was until a silver blade shot out from Symon's arm, causing Misty's blade to clash against Symon's. She tried hard to push her blade forward, but Symon's strong arm did not budge. Misty then jumped backwards with a flip and jumped off of the mountainside, her arms out.

"C'mon!" Symon grumbled. "Gonna run away like that?"

Meanwhile, Tyn had been smacking Amber around like she was nobody's business. Amber tried many times to block and deflect his hits, but they were all far too strong.

"How are you so strong?!" she yelled, ducking as his spear sliced the air right above her head.

"How are you so weak?" he said smoothly back, whipping his staff at her body.

"You're pretty lame for a fourth year student." He thought for a moment as he repeated his striking pattern from before.

"That, or Vacuo stinks," he added. Amber gritted her teeth and suddenly looked up, gasped, and jumped away, clearing a path for Misty, who had apparently jumped off the mountain. Misty crashed on top of Tyn, flipped off his back, and quickly shot at him, the ice dust in her gun freezing him to his spot and trapping him in a flurry of icy spikes, as well as depleting some of his aura.

"Hey! Ow!" he yelled, struggling to free himself. His hands and feet stuck out stiffly from his icy prison, his spear in his hands. He slid his finger to the trigger in the center of his spear. Then, after a few moments of trying to reach it, he did.

The other end of his spear, the end without the spear head, boomed as it shot, the bullet shattering the ice that was encasing it.

Tyn, part of his left side free, smashed his spear into the ice on his other ice, breaking it and setting himself free. He ran quickly to the other side, passing Ember and catching her attention.

"Get him!" Misty called over her shoulder. She was dodging Rueben's lasers and hurling the blade-form of her gun around, nicking Rueben here and there.

"Hey!" Tyn shouted, running quite fast, Ember following just on his tail. He ran, faster and faster, until he seemed to blur. Then, as he neared Carmen, a shockwave seemed to come off of him and he rushed away at blurring speed, little shadows of him being left behind where he had been. They stayed there for a little while, and while Ember suspected them of being some shadowy things, she ran right into them, crashing through it like it was a wall of bricks. Her aura took a deep drop and she stood up quickly, wondering what had happened.

"And it appears Tyn Verdant has used his semblance!" Port announce, fascinated in the scene before him.

"Ah, yes, Peter," Oobleck said, leaning into the glass of their booth.

"He runs as fast as he possibly can, gaining necessary momentum. Then his semblance breaks through, and he runs at an impossible speed, leaving behind what _looks_ like a picture of where he was, but really it is like a wall. And a strong wall at that!"

Ember staggered a little and shook her head to clear it. Then she turned and raced towards where Misty was, fighting Reuben. She seemed to be in the prime position.

Ember ran, jumped, and swung her whip around Rueben's throat as she flew above him in a flip. As she landed, it jerked Rueben to the side and allowed Misty to deck him in the face with the butt of her gun. He flashed bright red and the elimination noise sounded loudly through the arena.

"Rueben Rouge eliminated by aura level!" Oobleck shot out as soon as his aura dropped to red on the stat board.

"Too bad for him," Port said matter-of-factly.

"Nice move, Em," Misty said with a smile and a wink. Ember grinned and nodded.

"Same to you," she said. The two of them giggled and then hurried to fight.

Carmen had pulled out his massive spike club, his muscles flexing as he held it up. It was have weight a lot, because when he slammed it down without much effort, it seemed to make a shockwave as it collided with the earth, cracking the ground and making dirt fly up around him.

"Assembly Line!" he called out, his voice deep.

Tyn nodded and looked around.

"Can I take care of the brown haired girl first?" Tyn asked loudly, seeing Amber and her low aura level on the stat board, "She almost out."

Carmen looked around and nodded.

Tyn ran, jumped, and slid under Amber, who was fighting Symon, and caused her to fall, confused and unsuspecting of his sudden appearance. Tyn stood up and simply punched her as hard as he could, her orange aura immediately flashing down as soon as his fist hit her stomach.

"Ooooh!" Port said, observing the situation, "And Amber Hsie is eliminated by aura level! Nice of Tyn to consider her before a possible team attack."

"Dang it!" Ember howled midair as she kicked the back of Symon's head. She looked down to see a metal fist headed right towards her face.

"Oh Ho! Port exclaimed as Ember smashed into the ring-out barrier, "And Ember Flos is eliminated by ring-out _and _aura!"

"Talk about a knuckle sandwich!" Oobleck said, looking at Port.

"No!" Misty yelled angrily. "Not two of us!" She looked around, wondering what to do.

"Green Screen!" she shouted, racing towards the mountain again. Chartreuse who was lost in a cloud of dust form Carmen's crazy smashing around, heard the command and raced away, hoping to get to a clear area. She succeeded, and just barely escaped another huge crash by Carmen's club.

The blades attached to her arms like armor and sticking down past her wrists stuck out. She ran, towards Tyn, and then neared him, hoping to catch his attention. She looked like she was about to smash into him, so he flipped out of the way. But behind him, Chartreuse made a few glass like shields, which he slammed into as soon as he saw them. They were quite bouncy, for whatever reason, and he was soon ricocheting here and there between seven different glowing green things that Chartreuse had made.

Misty, who was on top of the mountain, fired a few ice shots, and then some fire, all of them exploding into flames and steam where Tyn was, stuck with Chartreuse's shields.

Tyn coughed as all he could breath was warm, heavy steam. Then, a few of Chartrue's shields shattered, throwing Tyn backwards out of the cloud of heavy steam. He skidded on his back a while before stopping. He stood up, dazed and confused.

"Symon?"

He saw the blurred yellow form of someone coming near. Or was he? Symon flew through the air and smashed into Tyn, causing him to fall down again. Symon groaned and told up.

"What was that?" he moaned, looking around. His question was answered by Misty, who burst through the mist and swiftly jabbed and hit Symon in various parts, pressure points, and then whacked him with her gun, along with a burst of aura to amplify its momentum.

Symon flew backwards, his aura flashing yellow.

"Aaand Symon Amarillo is eliminated by aura level!" Port boomed, his arm in the table.

"A swift and smart attack by Misty Lante," Oobleck said sipping his coffee, "Hitting the pressure points and finishing him off with a good strike of the weapon and some aura. Nicely done."

Misty grinned at her achievement and hurried away towards Carmen, who stood solitarily in the hot, volcanic terrain o the other side. He seemed to be smiling, but neither Chartreuse _or _Misty could tell. They both charged him, ready to unleash some sort of team attack that they hoped would do some damage. But Carmen knew exactly what he wanted to do. And they were only helping his plan.

He flexed his rocky muscles, his face squinting as he concentrated. His fists began to glow a hot reddish-orange as moved them in a slow, circular pattern. A small stream of heat and fire circled around his fists from the ground and melted into his knuckles, making them glow brightly.

"And what's this?!" Oobleck shouted way too loudly over the microphone, making everyone in the audience cover their ears,

"It seems Carmen Cobalt is using his semblance! Absorbing heat and transferring the power to his fists, charging it into a massive, powerful punch!"

As Oobleck had been saying that, it had all been happening as he had been saying, and Carmen, with a loud yell, thrust his fists at the two girls running at him. A loud boom sounded and an explosion of fire and smoke erupted where the three had been.

The elimination noise was twice as loud as before when is sounded through the arena.

"OH!" Oobleck shouted again, smiling widely.

Misty and Chartreuse both flew across the arena and slammed into the mini mountain, their auras flashing down.

"And Chartreuse Nettle and Misty Lante are eliminated!" Port yelled excitedly, "And team CRST is victorious!"

The crowd erupted in cheers.

Tyn and Carmen stood side by side, panting.

The crowd erupted in cheers.

"Yay, Tyn!" Sapphire cheered, waving and blushing. Tyn blushed and waved back, smiling and rubbing his head.

"Congratulations," Port said heartily, "That was a great demonstration of raw strength and an honorable victory against a fourth year team."

The crowd continued to cheer loudly as Carmen and Tyn left the ring. Tyn glanced at the stat board, noticing how high Carmen's aura was and how dangerously close his was was to being eliminated.

"Dude," he said, still looking at the board as the walked, "You're like, untouched."

Carmen smirked and shook his head.

"I hardly did a thing, Tyn," he said. Tyn shrugged.

"But you _did _smash those two girls, one-I'm pretty sure is Sapphire's sister, into the ring-out barrier."

"Oh, Misty!" Carmen said, "Your future sister-in-law."

Tyn grimaced and felt his cheeks grow hot.

"Uh, please don't talk like that," Tyn said quietly, rubbing his head nervously. Carmen just chucked and shook his head again.

"Symon!" Crystal shouted, bolting at him and leaping onto him, "You did _horrible, _ya little…" She embraced him tightly with a hug. Symon eyes widened and stared into space, his cheeks scarlet. Then he smiled and hugged her back.

"Nice punch," Crystal said, stepping back, "But bad elim-i-nation!"

Symon shrugged.

"I tried," he said simply.

"But!" Crystal shot back, pointing her finger upward, "You could have "tried" _better_!"

Symon just grinned.

"Okay, Doll Face," he said. Crystal blushed and clasped her hands together, twisting and turning with fake modesty.

"Oh, Symon," she said in a flirty tone, "You don't have to call me thaaaat."

"Okay, Crystal," he said simply.

"No!" Crystal said, "I didn't tell you to stop calling me that! I said, with fake modesty, that you didn't have to."

Symon smirked and turned to leave with his team.

"Welcome to the Vytal Festival Tournament! Broadcasting live from the Amity Colosseum!"

The welcoming words were boomed throughout the arena as the next fight of the Tournament began.

"Huh?" Crystal said, turning around. Two new teams were out in the arena, the two sides already chosen.

Currently, one side was icy and blue, full of spikes of ice, piles of snow, and a generally wintery feel, the ground mainly composed of ice. The other side was the complete opposite, hot and red and full of lava filled geysers, the ground made of dirt. Some hot crystals, which Sapphire assumed was dust by the looks of it, stuck out from various parts of that side.

"Can we watch this one?" Sapphire asked hopefully. The crowd began to cheer very loudly as the fight began.

"Sure!" Crystal called through the noise, "We can get into the stands and watch until lunch!"

The team agreed and quickly followed Crystal to the stands, which were very full. Once seated, Sapphire looked up to the place where her two teachers sat. Doctor Oobleck was explaining the rules of the Tournament again, a screen next to him portraying an images that matched his words.

"Here we go again," Crystal moaned, trying to focus on the current battle.

"The tournament is divided into three distinctive rounds," Oobleck said, his voice speaking in its usual fast tone.

"Teams," he said, holding up a finger for each point, "Doubles, and singles. Age and school year are irrelevant."

"In this tournament," Oobleck said, "The only attribute being tested…is skill." He pushed up his glasses.

"Correct!" Port said loudly, "The winners of this battle will elect two of their members to represent them in the doubles round. Followed by the winners of that round choosing one member to advance to once again!"

Crystal glanced at her teammates and continued watching.

"The remaining combatants will then fight their way to the final bracket in the hope of achieving victory for their kingdom!" Port finished, setting his arm on the long table in from of him.

"And yes, Peter," Oobleck said, quickly picking up where Port had left off, "These certainly are some spectacular spectacles on which to speculate on. And I don't think anyone tuning I around the world is going to disagree on me with that."

Mara giggled.

"Ah," said Port, "And why would they? Now! Let's get back to the match between team RWBY(Ruby) of Beacon and team ABRN (Auburn) of Haven!"

The crowd cheered once more as the two teams, RWBY and ABRN continued their fierce battle.

"Wow," Sapphire said, observing the massive stat board on the side of the arena. It had the two closing teams' names, the players on each team, and the aura level of each teammate.

So far, team RWBY seemed to be winning.

"Go team RWBY!" someone in the crowd shouted, waving a flag with the team name on it.

"Go Reese!" someone else cheered, waving their arms.

"Look at the Schnee," Crystal said, pointing to a girl on team RWBY wearing mostly white. Sapphire looked at the board.

"Weiss Schnee," Sapphire finished, reading off the board.

"Yeah," Crystal said, squinting at the fight. "She belongs in Atlas."

"Crystal, technically, I belong in Vacuo," Sapphire said, arms crossed. Crystal shook her head.

"Yeah, but you belong here, Sapphy," she said. Sapphire felt confused.

"What? Do you not like her?" she asked.

"No," Crystal replied, watching as someone's aura took a sudden drop, "I just hear a lot about the Schnee Dust Company whenever I'm being dust and stuff. And that she's the heiress to it. I just think that Atlas is a bit of a stuck-up snobby place, is all."

Sapphire focused back on the fight.

A girl with bright green hair, Reese, as the board said, was slammed into the ring-out wall by a girl with a katana attached to a ribbon of some sort.

"Ooooh," Professor Port said, amused, "Double whammy! Reese Chloris is eliminated by ring-out _and _aura level!"

Indeed, Reese's aura had gone down into red and she was eliminated.

"Ooooh!" Crystal cheered, standing up, "In your face, weird green lady!"

"Ohh," Oobleck said, "She really should've worn a helmet."

"Go Beacon!" Sapphire called, eagerly watching.

The two teams continued to clash, until a girl with blond hair, Yang Xiao Long, smashed all the rest of team ABRN's members into the side of a volcano, emptying their already low auras.

The crowd went wild. Nathen stood up and cheered.

"Team RWBY is victorious!" Port announced, making the crowd cheer even louder. Some people in the crowd frowned and sat down, gloomy for the team they had been cheering for.

"Well," Crystal said, standing up and stretching, "Let's eat!"

* * *

**Well, I just went through the tedious task of remaking EVERY chapter of this story ****left-aligned, due to more than 2 requests to do so. **

**Thank you, Atheus the World Traveler, dtill359, and...the other person who mentioned left-aligning. Maybe it was RelightTheTorch? I dunno. But thanks for reading and stay tuned for more chapters!**

**Also, please say who your favorite character is so far! I would really appreciate it. :) **


	32. The Tournament- Intermission

"Six stuffed dumplings; a plate of Sesame Soy Noodles, and a glass of Glory, please," Crystal said, staring at the menu as she ordered. The woman at the food shop nodded and hurried away with her order.

The whole Vytal Festival was set up and in order, mini portable shops and restaurants scattered here and there. Team CMSN sat at one of the restaurants, talking amongst themselves about the teams they had watched and their own fight.

"Who are we sending to the finals?" Nathen asked, a plate of steamed broccoli with some sort of sauce and meat all over it being set in front of him. Crystal gave him a strange expression.

"Isn't it obvious?" she asked, "Me and Sapphy are, duh."

"I am?" Sapphire asked through a mouthful of steak. Crystal nodded.

"Yes, you are, Sapphy," she said, patting her on the back.

Mara nodded understandingly. But Sapphire seemed a little confused, and swallowed her mouthful of steak, wincing as if took a while to go down.

"Why not you and Nathen?" she asked, her eyebrow raised, "You two are the strongest fighters on our team!"

Crystal narrowed her eyes seriously, leaning her face closer to Sapphire's with an edge of creepiness added to it.

"If I wanted Nathen to go onto the doubles round," she said slowly in a low voice, "Then he'd be going. Is that _crystal _clear?"

Sapphire, a little confused at her drama but knowing that Crystal was the only one who could call the shots, nodded. "Okay..."

"So me and Nathen get to watch and cheer you on?" Mara asked. Crystal nodded.

"Uh huh!" she said happily, "I reckon the team we'll face will be perfect for a person with a long-range weapon and a person with a _very _close combat weapon." She glanced at her Blah Blade, smiling with satisfaction.

"Well, then," Nathen said, blowing at his food, "It's decided. Crystal and Sapphire will move on to the doubles round, and me and Mara will sit and watch."

The team agreed. Then Crystal's order appeared.

"Twenty four lien," the waiter said sweetly, but her face demanded the money immediately. Crystal rolled her eyes and tossed her the money. The women eagerly accepted it and reluctantly gave Crystal her change. Crystal counted her change and suddenly frowned.

"Hey," she said unhappily, "This is not the correct amount of change! My card had one hundred and nine lien on it and you only gave me back 65!"

The woman frowned.

"First of all," she said, sounding angry and short tempered, "I would never do such a thing, and second; Your card had 89 lien, not 109."

Crystal sat up straight, pointing her finger accusingly at the women.

"Look, lady," Crystal said angrily, "By the way you act and the way you look, I bet you stole some of that change for yourself. Now, GIVE IT BACK!"

The women looked very angry.

"No!" she shouted, gaining the attention of others around, "I didn't steal it! Your card had 89 lien! I _swear_!"

"Swears are for insecure thieves!" Crystal thundered, "Give it back!"

"Hey! Hey!" a man with a suit on said, rushing over, "What's going on over here?"

"The shop owner won't give me all my lien back!" Crystal shouted angrily.

"That's not true!" the woman shot back, "I gave her the proper amount of change for her order!"

"Are you sure you did, Harper?" the man asked warily. Harper grunted angrily.

"Yes! And I mean it this time!"

Sapphire, Mara and Nathen exchanged glances.

"Are you sure?" the man asked, "Because that's what you said before when you 'lost' that one poor girl's card a few days back, and when around thirteen customers complained about you not giving all their money back last week."

Harper drew in a deep breath.

"Give the lady her money back," the man said strictly. "I can't let you go on like this any longer."

Harper seemed very upset, but slowly handed twenty-five lien over to Crystal, who snatched it and stuffed it into her pocket.

"Thanks, sir," Crystal said, staring hard at Harper. The man nodded his head and left with a polite tilt of his hat.

Harper crossed her arms and looked like she was hiding in an explosion.

"You won't get away with this, liar," she said eerily. Crystal shrugged as she wolfed down her food.

"Serves you right," Crystal said, swallowing her noodles.

"Have you ever heard of the Boy Who Cried Wolf?"

Sapphire gasped slightly and looked at Crystal, surprised.

Harper turned away.

"I have," she muttered quietly before leaving into her small kitchen.

"Wait, so you technically stole from her?!" Sapphire blurted, confused.

"Yep," Crystal said simply, gulping her glass of golden soda. "I've seen her around. She does stuff like that all the time. And that man, he's been trying to keep her good, but she always gets away with it. At first, he believed her when she said that the other person was lying, but as it continued on, he didn't believe her when she said I was lying."

Crystal stuffed a warm dumpling into her mouth and chewed it messily.

"Slick," Nathen said, taking another bite of his food. Mara nodded her agreement.

"Although," she said slowly, "I do feel kinda bad for her…"

"Well," Crystal said, finishing off her plate, "Serves her right."

Mara nodded.

"I know."

The team sat in silence, munching and drinking for quite some time.

"Would team JNPR (Juniper) please report to the battle grounds immediately," Port's voice said in an intercom on the shop's canopy. It startled the team and made them jump.

"Yes!" Oobleck's voice shot out as soon as Port's finished, "Like they were scheduled to several minutes ago!"

Mara and Sapphire giggled. Crystal laughed.

"Those professors!" she said, stuffing a dumpling into her mouth. Sapphire nodded her head in agreement.

"I love it here," Mara sighed dreamily, looking around at the festival around her. Poles with colorful flags hanging on them were everywhere; people went from shop to shop, buying things and stopping to eat. The whole mood was fun and festive.

"The doubles round starts in an hour," Nathen informed them, looking at a schedule that was pasted to a post nearby.

"Awesome," Crystal said, finishing her soda with three huge gulps. She finished her meal with a loud, rude burp.

"Sorry not sorry!" Crystal blurted as soon as she had finished belching. Sapphire immediately became infuriated and slapped Crystal right across the cheek. Crystal flashed light purple and then glared angrily and Crystal.

"Quit it, 'Mom'!" Crystal grumbled darkly. Nathen and Mara looked at each other and then back at the fight that was brewing.

"I'm not your mother!" Sapphire angrily shot back, "But I think I might have to act as her for you, since you can't seem to live on your own without her supervision!"

"Hey!" Nathen interrupted, sliding off his stool and standing in-between the two girls, "Can you two _please_ stop fighting? Especially here in public? It's really quite immature, since you two are seventeen, almost eighteen."

Sapphire and Crystal looked at each other and turned back to their empty plates. The tension between them relaxed and the atmosphere was less strained.

"So!" Mara began cheerfully, "Who do you think we'll face?"

Crystal spat in the dirt next to her.

"Who cares?" she answered pridefully with a wave of her hand, "We've got me, and that's pretty much all that counts."

Sapphire took a deep breath, controlling herself from nursing out into rage.

"If you're so confident in yourself," Sapphire began slowly, in a controlled tone, "Then maybe you should just forget you even have a team!"

"Sapphy!" Crystal gasped, "You wouldn't think that I forgot about all of you in my amazing awesomeness? That's so mean!"

Sapphire shook her head.

"Just don't forget you have a team, Crystal," she said quietly, sliding off her stool and stretching.

"Good, meal, y'all," she said through a yawn.

"We should head back to the arena. Catch the last fights of round one. Then the doubles round will start."

"I hope we don't have to face any second, third, or fourth year students," Mara said nervously. Crystal laughed.

"Pshaw!" she said, "If we do, then me and Sapphy will show them who's boss!"

Nathen shrugged.

"Okay," he said standing up and looking around. "As long as you win."

"Yeah!" Crystal said, throwing her hand in the air, "Let's represent the best of the best in Beacon!"

"Let's represent the good authority and training of Professor Ozpin!" Mara said happily. Crystal gave Mara a look that made her look embarrassed.

"Who cares about _that _old man?" Crystal said rudely.

Her comment was repaid with another slap from Sapphire.


	33. The Tournament- Light Crimson

"Welcome back to the Vytal Festival Tournament!" Port's voice boomed all around the arena, which was packed full by now. Every team in all four kingdoms had arrived by now and the crowd was bigger, louder, and more excited than ever.

"As we begin our doubles round," Oobleck began, "I will again explain the sequel to each victory. The winning teams of round one will have chosen two members of their team to represent them in this doubles round. Four students will be fighting in each match, two from each team. The winning team of each round will then chose one member of their team to advance to the singles round, where they will fight a single member of another team until only one student is left standing. The team to which this student belongs claims victory over the entire tournament!"

The crowd cheered so loud, Sapphire was afraid her ears would start to bleed.

Her and Crystal stood at the entrance of the ring, waiting for their team to be called.

"I will _so _crush the other team," Crystal said, putting her fists together and gritting her teeth, "The first round was cake."

Sapphire shrugged.

"I suppose."

"For our first battle," Port continued, the stats board flickering as the pictures, names, and aura level of the combatants appeared, "We have fighting, two members of team CMSN versus two members of team LITE!"

The crowd erupted into cheers, posters with pictures and writings waving in the air.

Crystal and Sapphire walked out into the center of the ring, two other girls walking to the center from the opposite side.

"Aw," Sapphire moaned, looking at her picture on the stats board, "How come I'm not smiling?"

Crystal laughed and elbowed Sapphire.

"I dunno," she said, "But I know I certainly am!"

"You just look evil," Sapphire muttered.

Crystal scowled.

"Good luck," a girl with very long blond hair with lavender streaks said. Sapphire nodded and smiled.

"You too," Sapphire returned.

"Hey!" a girl with with dark orange hair said as the flipping terrain boards began to move all around them, "We both have a bow and arrow!"

Sapphire gasped and then noticed the quiver that slung over the girl's back.

"Oh," Sapphire said, feeling suddenly un-unique, "That's cool."

The boards landed on four different terrains: An old broken city, a volcanic land, a beach-like setting with water, a pirate ship, and a hill of sand with a tall palm tree, and a forest. Then the area around the center transformed into those very areas, making it look like a very mixed up land.

The first girl, Laraly, according to the board, looked around and seemed to be calculating everything around her with steady, purple eyes. The other, Tina, simply pulled out some sort of a mechanical harpoon and smiled.

Sapphire pulled out her boomerang and took a deep breath. Crystal pulled out her massive sword, making Tina's eyes widen. Laraly looked perfectly calm.

"Three!" Port said, "Two!"

The crowd cheered like crazy.

"One!"

"Go Sapphire!" Misty screamed from the stands.

"Begin!"

Sapphire flinched. Laraly and Crystal took a few steps forward, but then slowly stopped, looking alertly around themselves. Tina stood there, her weapon out, but staring at Sapphire, who had immediately knocked a capsule. The crowd let out a loud cheer, which quickly halted as the two teams stood there, looking confused.

A small wave of laughter traveled across the arena.

"And what is this?" Oobleck asked, taking a brief sip of his coffee, which looked far too hot to drink.

"I wonder what happened there?" Ports said, looking curiously at the scene.

"C'mon Laraly!" a girl with blond hair shouted from the crowd, "C'mon Tina! What are you waiting for?!"

"Let's go Crystal!" team MACE sang loudly in harmony, "Let's go Sapphy!"

"Huh," Tina laughed out loud with a shrug, "I guess I'm always just used to the opposing force striking first!"

Suddenly, Laraly shot forward in a low position, her sword out and a focused look on her face. She nearly knocked Sapphire off of her feet, but Sapphire jumped out of the way, just in time.

Laraly, who had gone quite fast, kept on running until she reached a tree, which was right behind them, ran up the side of it, grabbed one of the long branches extending from it, and swung off with a flip, her feet out for a heavy kick to Crystal's face.

Crystal swung around and held up her sword to her face, Laraly's kick landing on the wide blade. Laraly bent her legs and pushed off of the blade as soon as she had hit it, flipping off of it and landing in a handstand, finishing with a series of back handsprings. But as soon as she had stood up, she had to block a blow from Crystal and her Blah Blade, countering it with her own sword and engaging into a fast paced hand-to-hand combat with Crystal. The two of them kicked, punched, dodged, and blocked each other so fast, it was hard to monitor who was doing what.

Meanwhile, Tina and Sapphire had _started _with the hand-to-hand combat, though, only for a short while, for Sapphire had quickly raced away to find a good spot in a tree. Tina had also decided to do the same, rushing to the highest building in the ruined city terrain. She had just found a good place on the top of a half skyscraper-like thing, when a frosty blue arrow whizzed by and neary got Tina in the face, until she shot her harpoon out, its blade hitting the arrow and making it explode into an icy flurry in the air. But several spikes of ice clung to the tip of Tina's harpoon's blade as she reeled it it. Another arrow, a fiery red arrow coming by this time. Tina quickly held up her ice-covered harpoon blade and let the fire of the arrow turn her icy blade to a steamy hot one.

"There we go," she muttered.

"C'mon," Sapphire growled from her perch on a tall pine tree. She knocked a fire capsule, aiming it directly at Tina's feet.

_A fire arrow to get her off balance, an ice arrow to freeze her in place, a stone one to _hold _her in place for a lower aura, _she planned as she aimed her capsule. Tina had moved, however, to a slightly lower spot. Sapphire grunted and aimed her capsule lower.

Suddenly, Tina held out her hands and focused, her palms glowing brighter and brighter and an orb appearing. Sapphire squinted from the light. Then, with no warning, Tina faced her hands towards Sapphire, an insanely bright light flashing into Sapphire's eyes and blinding her.

"Augh!" Sapphire yelled, looking away and rubbing her eyes. Her capsule had been let loose and flew by Tina. It fell short and landed below her, into some dry brush, which immediately exploded into flames and smoke.

As soon as Sapphire had turned away, blinded, Tina had pulled out her bow, aimed an arrow, and shot it at Sapphire, all in one swift movement.

The arrow blurred through the air and hit Sapphire. Her aura took a hit.

"And Tina Tangerine has just used her semblance of brightness!" Ports announced.

"Yes, indeed!" Oobleck responded, "Blinding her opponent and taking a shot at her while she can!"

Sapphire yanked the arrow out of her leg. It had not been to deep, and instead of the wound oozing blood and hurting quite badly, there was simply a small mark, as if she had been poked with a tack, thanks to her aura.

Sapphire tossed the arrow away and stood up, still quite blinded, and staggered on her branch.

Tina grinned, but then leaped off the side of the building as Crystal shot through the air right where Tina had been standing and smashed into the mini mountain on the other side of the ring. Her aura on the board dropped insanely low for a moment, and then shot up suddenly as soon as she fell and flashed light purple.

"And Crystal Minkh uses her semblance again!" Port boomed.

"Absorbing kinetic force and adding it to her aura," Oobleck explained, pushing up his large glasses.

Laraly dashed straight towards Crystal, her sword out.

Sapphire rubbed her eyes, which were dilated and sore, and looked at the stats boar, her vision clearing some.

Laraly's aura was in the light green; Crystal's was all the way up; Sapphire's was yellow already, and Tina's was at 91, just a tiny bit below the top mark.

"Come on, Sapphire!" Mara called from the stands. "Yeah, you can do it, team!" Nathen shouted, standing next to Mara.

Sapphire smiled in their general direction, and then ran off to find Tina.

* * *

"Interesting…"

Onyx watched intently as Sapphire and Tina began a fierce fight with each other, Sapphire seeming strangely determined. His blue screen flickered as the fight went on.

"Come on..," he said, his voice smooth and coaxing, "Remember what I taught you. And nice weapon upgrade."

"Onyx?" Jay asked, his head poking into his room.

"What is it, Jay?" Onyx asked with a sigh, "I'm watching my niece fight in the tournament."

"Sapphire?" Jay asked, stepping into the room. Onyx nodded slowly.

"Did you give her leave?" Jay asked, walking slowly to Onyx's seat.

Onyx continued watching, his head leaning on his fist, his elbow propped on his chair's arm. He sat up straighter, his face lighting up. A smile protruded from behind his blue mustache.

"That's my Sapphire," he said with satisfaction as Sapphired managed to trap Tina in a flurry of dust and arrows, some her own, some from Tina's weapon, and deal a series of blows onto her as she stood encased in stone and ice. Tina's aura flashed down with an orange glow and the elimination noise sounded.

"You were saying?" Onyx asked as Port and Oobleck began commenting on Tina's elimination.

"Oh," Jay said, shifting his attention from the back of the screen and onto Onyx.

"I think that there may be someone here-someone who was Accepted-who aided the escape of the P.I.s."

Onyx just continued watching, but he sat up straighter.

"State your understanding," Onyx said, his voice calm. Jay scraped his foot on the floor as he spoke.

"Well," he began, looking at the floor, "While we were chasing them after they escaped with the two huntresses, the entrances, exits, and even some of the stairways incognito appear to have been opened in order for the P.I.s to leave. If no one had opened them-which only Accepted can-then the whole troop of them would have been walled-in not a minute after they had left."

"So you're assuming it was one of us and you are, in your deepest mind, positive about it," Onyx said, the fight flashing on the screen.

"Yes," Jay confirmed, looking back up at Onyx. Onyx sighed and shook his head.

"We'll have to investigate," Onyx said, turning his eyes to Jay, "But we can't end up with the innocent as a prisoner."

Jay nodded.

"Of course."

"Do you have any suspects?" Onyx asked, his eyes now watching the fight again.

"Well," Jay began slowly, seeming to hesitate, "I-I think...that _maybe _it might have been...your niece?"

Onyx's facial expression didn't change.

"How's that?" he asked smoothly.

"Uh," Jay began, his usual timor showing, "Well, a few weeks back, on the day of the escape, Sapphire came in, saying that the two huntresses, the ones responsible for the escape, were P.I.s, patrolling the Emerald Forest and were suspected of having relevant information about the Hibrosekis. Then she walked off after leaving them to me, Ebony, and Kendalyn to bring them for an audience with Ray. Then, the two huntresses escaped and freed the P.I.'s. And I think that maybe Sapphire was with the two huntresses as...well, I don't know, but maybe a team?"

Onyx looked the same and didn't say anything.

"Because," Jay continued, "She left and declined the offer of a Clanmate for being a student at one of the academies. And when she came with two other huntresses, there was an escape following only about an hour later, while certain doors and stairways relevant for their escape were mysteriously opened, allowing them to leave."

Jay looked tentatively up at Onyx, whose face was still calm and satisfied as he watched the battle.

"So you think she may have traveled around the whole Core and opened necessary entrances, aiding the escape and have had it planned upon coming here," Onyx said, still watching the screen. Jay nodded.

"Yes," he said. Onyx sighed and sat up.

"It does seem quite realistic, though it is not allowed that any Accepted do such things," he said with a yawn. "Go ahead and gather more info, if needed. In the meantime, I'll just call her later and ask."

Jay seemed confused.

"What?" he asked, "Wouldn't she just lie and say no?"

"Maybe," Onyx said standing up and stretching, his eyes still on the screen, "But me and Sapphire have a history that you don't know about, and I'm assuming that it will bring out the truth."

"What?" Jay asked, still puzzled.

"It's called family, Jay," Onyx said, finally looking Jay in the eyes. Jay looked at the floor.

"Family do betray themselves sometimes, though," Jay said quietly.

"I understand and have understood," Onyx said, sitting down again. "But I am not your family. Neither is Sapphire. And we have a _very_ loyal family."

Jay nodded slowly.

"But don't worry," Onyx said, getting into a comfortable position on his chair, "It does tend to happen to even some of the purest families and friends. Corruption is not an easy thing to avoid, and I'm not counting on loyalty and trust alone. I haven't in years.. So I'm ready for both."

Jay looked uneasy.

"Why not?" he asked quietly.

"Because I learned not to...the hard way."

"Do you trust me?" Jay asked slowly.

"Sure," Onyx said, smiling as Sapphire's boomerang transformed into a bow, "But I'm not relying on it entirely."

Jay looked down.

The room remained silent, except for the sounds of the tournament on the blue screen hovering in front of Onyx.

"No further comment?" Onyx asked. Jay shook his head.

"I'll notify you once I receive news," Onyx said as Jay turned to leave.

"As will I," Jay answered, closing the door behind him.

* * *

"This may be our longest fight so far," Oobleck observed as Crystal, Sapphire, and Laraly all fought.

"It seems Laraly Lavender is holding up well against both of the combatants from team CMSN," Port said as Laraly twirled her sword so that it sawed at Crystal's blade, which was bearing down on her.

Sapphire's aura was in the yellow, Laraly's light green, and Crystal all the way up.

Currently, Sapphire was perched on a tree, trying to aim an arrow at Laraly. She grunted with frustration. Every time she tried to find a good spot to shoot, Crystal was in the way.

"I just need her to move a little to the right..," Sapphire murmured to herself. The she decided that she might as well simply shoot rapid fire at them, making a trail of who-know-what kind of dust. She did have a ton more ammo and speed now, anyway.

Suddenly, Laraly's aura dropped drastically, even though Crystal hadn't appeared to hit her.

"And it appears Laraly Lavender has used her semblance of greatly decreasing her aura!" Port joked. Oobleck watched without comment, sipping his thermos of coffee.

It was then that Crystal had swung around with a surprise hit on Laraly. She dodged it as if she had already seen it coming, and then managed to increase her distance from Crystal.

_I've got her now, _Crystal thought haughtily to herself as Laraly dashed into the pirate ship-like terrain.

"Push her into the water, stab it with lightning," Crystal muttered, pressing the light blue button on the side of her sword. She turned around and waved proudly at Sapphire. Then she made a fist and slapped it onto her open palm.

"I've got her," Crystal said, raced towards Laraly with her sword arced above her head.

"Plan B?" Sapphire asked herself, confused, "Why do we need to do Plan B?"

Sapphire looked at the stats board. Crystal's aura was brimming.

"Do what the leader says," Sapphire told herself reluctantly as she nocked a capsule. A glowing red line in the top wear the tip would protrude.

She aimed it carefully at Crystal, who was jumping and flipping off of high places towards Laraly, who was on top of the palm tree.

"Just knock her off and stab the water, Crystal!" Crystal said excitedly to herself as she rushed at Laraly with intense speed. Laraly was ready, her feet firm in place and her sword out as Crystal leaped at her.

But just as Crystal was about to knock Laraly off of the palm tree with a burst of aura and a big slam, a red arrow came and hit Crystal, exploding her in flames. Crystal glowed purple and suddenly, a shockwave of light purple came out from her, Crystal's aura immediately dropping to zero on the stats board. The wave of aura knocked Laraly off, sending both her and Crystal into the water. The fire around Crystal turned to steam upon contact with the water and covered Crystal with a cloud of mist. Laraly leaped from the water onto the sandbank. The elimination noise sounded and Crystal sat up, mildly burned and_ very _angry.

"And Crystal Minkh is eliminated by aura level by...It seems her own teammate, Sapphire Lante!" Port announced, slightly confused.

Crystal screamed in frustration.

Laraly swung around and saw Sapphire on her perch. She raced away, unnoticed by Sapphire.

"Huh?" Sapphire asked herself out loud, wondering why Crystal hadn't completed the team attack. Crystal walked slowly away, looking like she was ready to explode. Then, right behind Sapphire, a blade smashed into her, and she fell forwards onto the ground with a thud. She flashed blue and the elimination sound came.

"We lost…," Sapphire murmured on the ground, the realization coming to her slowly, "We lost!"

"Sapphire Lante is eliminated by aura!" Port said heartily, "And team LITE claims victory once again!"

Sapphire stood up slowly, a gloomy feeling weighing on her as she walked away towards the exit. She passed by Mara and Nathen, who patted her back and told her how she did fine. But their faces were disappointed and sad. The members of team LITE all rushed happily to meet Laraly and congratulate her.

_Every story of defeat is also a story of victory, _Sapphire said to herself sadly, her head down in shame. She tried to feel happy for the other team, but a heavy thought rung repeatedly into her ears.

_We've lost. No more battles for us. It's my fault. _


	34. The Tournament- Harsh Words

"Why did you do that?!" Crystal yelled angrily, her hands balled into fists. Sapphire stood there, ashamed and angry at the same time.

"You told me to do Plan B!" Sapphire shot back defensively, her finger pointing at Crystal.

"No I did not!" Crystal howled, her eyes squeezed shut.

"But you made a crushing rock gesture!" Sapphire argued.

"No, I was showing you that I was going to finish her off!" Crystal said angrily.

"Maybe you should think more about the actions you make!" Sapphire shouted.

"Maybe you should think about what you're about to do!" Crystal screamed, "Make sure it makes sense!"

"But _nothing _you do makes sense!" Sapphire hissed, "I've been told by you and everyone else that as a teammate and _not_ the leader, to _follow the leader_!"

"Not if it doesn't make sense whatsoever!" Crystal shrieked, her face red.

"It was just a misunderstanding!" Sapphire yelled, tears dripping down her face.

"Was it?" Crystal said in a chilly tone that made Sapphire stop yelling and give a small gasp.

"I-" More tears began to flow ad she felt vulnerable and ashamed.

"It wasn't," Sapphire said quietly, "I _swear_."

"Swears are for insecure thieves, Sapphire," Crystal said darkly, her back turned.

At the sound of Crystal using her given name, Sapphire felt a wave of sorrow go through her.

"I'm sorry," Sapphire said, her voice shaking with emotion. Crystal shook her head and turned away to leave.

"Wait!" Sapphire called, turning to Crystal, who was nearly gone.

"Leave me alone!" Crystal shouted back. Then she was gone.

The realization that her team had lost the tournament, the harshness of Crystal, and the guilt of everything weighed down on Sapphire all at once.

She collapsed on the cold metal floor and began to weep, her long blue hair falling in her face and around her shoulders. The harsh words of Heather back at the mission rang in her ears and sent another torrent of tears pouring down her face.

"Nobody trusts me!" she sobbed, a lonely, sad feeling aching in her chest, "I don't belong here!"

She sat there, crying for some time, until the sound of footsteps hushed her.

She sat bolt upright and quickly brushed away her hair and wiped roughy at her face.

There, standing at the door, was Tyn. He was holding his spear and a large duffle bag. It must have been heavy, because the arm that held it was flexing, his rocky muscles showing quite visibly.

"Sapphire?" he asked, concern in his voice. At the sight of him, Sapphire burst into more tears. Tyn walked over to her, gently set down his spear and bag, and sat next to her. Immediately, Sapphire jerked into his arms, sobbing into his shoulder and clinging onto him like a baby to its mother. Tyn was a bit surprised by this, but quickly hugged her back, allowing Sapphire as much time was she needed. A minute or two later, she slowly drew away from him, her face red and wet with tears. She sniffed and wiped away some of her tears, her hair intervening.

"Hey," Tyn said softly wiping some of her hair from her face, "Are you okay?"

Sapphire shook her head and felt hot tears running down her face.

"I don't think so," she said, her voice shaking with emotion.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked gently. Sapphire burst out crying again and hugged him tightly.

"Oh, Tyn!" she cried, pressing her face into his shoulder, "I messed up _so_ bad in that fight and now I blame myself and Crystal blames me and now I think she hates me and I feel like a piece of trash and a traitor because I'm a part of a clan that stole a whole village and killed some of them and Heather didn't trust me and now I don't think anyone trusts me and I don't think I belong here anymore because everyone hates me and I feel so horrible and now-" she didn't even finish as she exploded into more tears again and rubbed her face in his shirt.

"I'm so sorry," Tyn said quietly, his hand brushing the back of Sapphire's hair and rubbing her back.

_Girls sure are a little dramatic about these types of things, _Tyn said to himself, _But I understand._

Sapphire just kept crying, Tyn saying soothing words to her and assuring her it wasn't only her fault.

"You can fight and you've got the heart of a true huntress," Tyn said as Sapphire drew slowly away again, "Of course you belong here."

Sapphire wiped at her face, which was so wet, she would probably need a towel to dry it properly.

"All that happened was a small misunderstanding," Tyn soothed, brushing his hand on her face, "And Crystal is just over exaggerating, as usual. She'll probably soften up in a little while. And I'm assuming you didn't kill anyone from the village. It was just the clan you are a part of."

Sapphire sniffed and wiped her face again.

"Actually," she said, "I'm just _considered _a part of it. Due to my uncle being part of it and giving me certain rights to it."

"Even less your fault," Tyn said with a light smile. Sapphire smiled weakly.

"Sorry," she said, standing up and wiping her hair away, "I tend to get a little dramatic when the blame and guilt are pushing me over."

Tyn nodded and stood up, picking up the bag and his spear.

"That's okay," he said with a grin, "You should have seen Nathen when he was seven."

Sapphire raised a brow.

"Weren't you seven, too?" she nodded. "Yeah, but I wasn't like him and I still remember it."

The two of them stood there and then smiled, and then embraced. Sapphire felt the tickly sensation in her heart again as they hugged and her face grew hot.

Tyn smiled.

"Thanks for talking with me," Sapphire said, feeling much better now. Tyn nodded.

"Nice talking with you," he replied with a wink. Sapphire blushed and giggled.

"It's fun to be in love," Sapphire said happily, not realizing that she had said this out loud. Tyn laughed out loud, though, he looked like a mix of nervous, happy, and surprised. Sapphire grabbed her weapon from the floor and walked away, her cheeks red.

"Sorry!" she cried as she left, waving. She was very embarrassed, but part of her was filled with glee.

* * *

**Oof, I'm really gonna needs some name ideas for the Sapphire and Tyn ship. Those would be very welcome!**

**Thanks for reading and tune in for more chapters!**


	35. The Tournament- Intermission 2

"So how did you guys do?" Symon asked as the two teams exited an ice cream shop.

"Terrible," Crystal answered bitterly. She kicked a rock on the ground and sent it flying into the bushes.

"Oh, no," Reuben said, sipping out of his soda cup, "You guys lost?"

Mara nodded slowly.

"Who's fault was it?" Reuben asked randomly. Tyn scowled at Reuben.

"Sapphire's," Crystal answered flatly. Symon looked warily at Crystal.

"You okay?" he asked her. She was so mad, you could have imagined a black storm cloud raining on her head.

"Oh, yeah, I'm great!" Crystal said, sarcasm dripping off her words, "My teammate exploded my aura and destroyed my chances of winning the tournament I've been waiting my whole life for. Now the next tournament will be in two whole years and I'll be a much older and much less impressive person to fight against. So much for first year glory." She kicked another rock, this one hitting someone's foot. Luckily, the person didn't appear to notice.

Sapphire felt that awful weight of guilt again, but tried to brush it off.

_It's not my fault, _she said to herself again and again.

"Okay..," Symon said, his eyebrow raised. Carmen shook his head and chuckled.

"Girls are so dramatic," he mumbled.

"And pretty," Reuben said, his eyes following Sandy, who had happened to walk by. She caught notice of him, blushed, and then walked away with a light wave of her hand. Reuben waved back, smiling and blushing. Carmen chuckled again.

"The singles round is tonight!" Nathen said, trying to lighten the mood. Mara smiled and jumped excitedly.

"I wonder who'll win!" she squealed. Carmen shrugged.

"I know that I was chosen by my _teammates _to compete in the singles round," Carmen said with a laugh, "I didn't decide at all."

"Yeah," Symon said, licking his mint ice cream cone, "We all decided that Carmen should go because of all his brute strength and such."

Crystal just looked even more bitter and glum.

"Oh, c'mon, Crystal," Symon said with a smile, "Just because I'm not going, it doesn't mean you have to hate it."

Crystal just muttered something darkly under her breath and kicked another rock.

"It isn't that, Symon," she said, a look of anger on her face, "It's that _I _won't be going to the singles round."

She looked over her shoulder at Sapphire and shot her a nasty look.

"Thanks a lot, _Sapphire_."

Sapphire looked down.

"The sunset really is lovely," Mara said, staring at the beautiful painted sky. The sun was setting, plunging the world into night. Splashes of bright red, orange, gold, and yellow stretched across the sky, the glowing orange sun setting in the center of it all. The silhouettes of buildings and trees were in the distance, and the larger silhouette of the arena floated in the sky above Beacon Academy.

"Who else ordered pistachio ice cream!" Lucky shouted, racing over with the rest of her team. She skidded to a halt in front of the two teams and then began licking her ice cream at an unbelievable pace.

"I did, actually," Sapphire said from behind Crystal and Symon. Lucky clapped one of her hands on her thighs and skipped over, now walking beside her.

"Do ya like it?" Lucky asked, her tongue green. Sapphire shrugged.

"I thinks it's pretty good," she said, taking another lick, "It reminds me of Blue Moon ice cream, but slightly less mellow and strange."

Lucky nodded.

"Okie!" she said. "Sorry about your team's loss."

Sapphire nodded.

"That's okay. Only one team wins at a time."

"Our team_ should_ have," Crystal muttered, purposely within earshot. Sapphire shook her head.

"Could you please stop?" Sapphire asked, annoyed. Crystal shrugged.

"Leave me alone," she mumbled. Sapphire slapped her forehead with her palm and let out a frustrated groan.

"Don't worry about her," Lucky said, also purposely within in earshot of Crystal, "She's just being a bum."

Sapphire sighed.

"I guess," she said slowly.

"C'mon!" Lucky said, her team nearly to the rest of the group, "Our team didn't even make it past the _teams _round! And we weren't slouching around as if our lives had been ruined forever. We're actually having a really good time right now."

Lucky gestured to her team, who was still catching up to her. They were all walking together; laughing and talking.

"The tournament isn't an event to make people famous or for the four kingdoms to boast to each other; it's an event celebrating the end of a big war, an event celebrating the unity of sources of light around the world against the dark. A way to grow friendship and gain more skill."

"It's also a way for the headmasters to show off their students," Sapphire added with a giggle. Lucky laughed.

"I guess Professor Lionheart isn't doing too well, then," Lucky said with a silly voice, "Haven is doing _terrible_!"

They laughed and Crystal looked slowly behind her.

"Sorry," she said, "I stink."

Sapphire looked confused.

"That's okay?"

Crystal just kept walking with everyone else.

"We should head back to the arena after dinner," Val said, catching up to the group and pointing towards the ships.

"Yeah," Evan said, walking over, "The one on one finals start in an hour."

Everyone exchanged glances and then nodded.

"Affirmative," Sapphire said with mock soberty.

"Where should we go?" Mara asked brightly. Nathen shrugged.

"How about that noodle place over there," he said, pointing to a noodle shop about a block away. Crystal shook her head.

"Nah," she said, "We should go to that fast food restaurant down the street. I heard it's pretty cheep."

"No," Val said, looking around, "We should go to that one sushi restaurant. It's not too bad for sushi and it is _tasty_!"

"Blech!" said Reuben, "Sushi!"

Everyone stared at him in an uncomfortable way.

"You don't like sushi?" Tera asked, her voice low and accusing.

"No," Reuben answered, "Raw fish is gross."

"Who else doesn't like sushi!" Lucky called, much louder than necessary. No one else said a thing.

"Cool," she said, somewhat surprised that everyone else liked it.

"To Sushi Island it is!" Val said with a smile.


	36. The Tournament- The Finals Pt 1

"Now for the moment you've all been waiting for!" Port boomed, his voice echoing above the roar of the crowd, "The one on one finals!"

The crowd cheered very loud.

"Go Carmen!" Symon and Tyn yelled at the same time, their low masculine voices deep and ambient.

Carmen, Laraly, and seven other people, one of which Sapphire recognized as Pyrrha Nikos, all stood in a row in the center of the arena. The first girl, the one with the blond hair from team RWBY seemed to be drinking in the praise of the crowd. Mostly everyone else seemed nervous or determined.

"I should be out there," Crystal mumbled as she sat slumped in her seat. Sapphire tried to ignore Crystal's negativity and watch what would happen.

The entire arena was dimmer than earlier that day, due to the night's darkness. It gave the whole arena happy atmosphere, for whatever reason.

"Barty," Port said, addressing Oobleck, "Why don't you explain the rules?"

"Uhh, it's quite simple, Peter," Oobleck responded immediately, "Instead of a bracket system, each round of the finals will be randomly determined immediately before the match takes place."

"Much like any good hunt," Port continued, "There will be zero time to prepare."

"Ah, yes, yes," Oobleck said, smiling and then facing the crowd, "Now let's see who our first match will be!" He pointed to one of many of the viewing screens, which began to flip through each combatants picture at a blurring speed.

"C'mon!" Lucky squealed behind Sapphire, "Be Pyrrha and Cavi!"

"Go Carmen!" Sapphire called, "Go Beacon!"

The flipping slowed and soon stopped. On the left, stopped a picture of a boy with gray hair and bluish-gray clothes. On the right, a picture of the blondie on team RWBY.

"Yang Xiao Long and Mercury Black!" Port said, announcing the two student's names. The crowd cheered again.

"I don't know who either of the are," Sapphire said, eyeing the both, "But…"

She stood up and put her hands to her mouth.

"Go Beacon!" she cried.

"Would all other combatants please leave the stage," Port said, directing the other students away. The other students all lined up and left, leaving just Yang and Mercury standing in the center of the stage.

Then the two of them faced each other, taking on a fighting stance.

Suddenly, from the floor, an iron ring extended out, floating into the air as the circle of the center rose up. Several spotlights were attached to it and turned on, highlighting the center of the arena.

"Three!" Port called, Mercury and Yang preparing to attack each other,

"Two!"

"I'll cheer for the blondie," Crystal said from her seat.

"One!"

The two of them neared each other until their hands were crossed.

"Fight!"

Immediately, the two began fierce fight, both bearing weapons able to shoot. Yang had golden gauntlets that could shoot, and Mercury had boots that could shoot.

"That's fun," Sapphire mused aloud.

"Hey," Crystal said, still slouched in her chair. Sapphire turned and looked at Crystal.

"Hm?" she asked, the sounds of shooting and yelling urging her to keep watching.

"Sorry for being so mad at you," Crystal said quietly, "I just really wanted to get into the finals. I shouldn't have blamed you for it. At least not blamed you in the way I did."

Sapphire smiled and shrugged.

"It's okay, Crystal," she said brightly, "I act that way sometimes."

The sound of a desperate shout jerked Sapphire's attention back to the fight, where Mercury had been shot off the side of the platform. He nearly fell into elimination zone, until he shot himself back up with his boots and landed back onto the platform.

"Nearly though he was a goner," Crystal murmured. Sapphire nodded her agreement.

"I think Yang's gonna win," Sapphire said, observing the situation. Yang seemed about ready to end the match.

"Maybe," Val said behind them, "Go Haven!"

Mercury kicked a spiral of bullets with his boots, the shots going up and then coming down, all on Yang.

"No!" Sapphire gasped. Yang's aura dropped. But it wasn't gone yet.

Just as Mercury was walking away with satisfaction, Yang burst out with a wall of flames, her eye red and her hair glowing golden. She then destroyed Mercury with a series of fiery punches, smashing him away and breaking his aura.

The buzzer sounded.

Yang had won.

"What a way to kick off the finals!" Port said, amazed at the skill of the competitors.

Yang put a fist in the air. The crowd cheered.

"Wooh!" Crystal and Sapphire all cheered at the same time.

"Yang Xiao Long wins!" Oobleck yelled, arising even more cheers.

The platform lowered and Yang began to walk away, Mercury standing up with a bitter look on his face.

"Go Beacon!" all the girls in the group cheered together.

Suddenly, Yang turned around and punched Mercury in the leg, shooting it as she did. Mercury fell to the floor, clutching his leg and moaning.

"What the what?!" Crystal shouted. The astonished crowd began to boo, many of them horrified and concerned.

"My word!" Oobleck gasped, putting his hands on the table and standing up.

"Cut the cameras," Port ordered behind him.

A group of Atlesian guards circled Yang, guns up ordering her to stand down

The surveyor cameras replayed the scene. Yang looked confused, but Sapphire didn't care. Why had she done that?

"What is wrong with that girl?!" Crystal shouted, demanding an answer.

"I don't know!" Sapphire answered, the chaos of the scene confusing everyone.

"She representing Beacon bad!" Nathen said, angry.

Two medical staff arrived carrying a stretcher. Someone who must have been Mercury's teammate arrived at his side, panicked and horrified as she looked at his knee and put her arm on his shoulder.

The paramedics carefully lifted Mercury onto the stretcher and hurried him away, his teammate following him.

Meanwhile, the Atlas Military guards took Yang away, all circling around her with their guns up.

"What are we going to do?" Mara asked. The whole scene was a mess. Everyone was confused.

"I dunno," Sapphire said.

"I guess the next round is tomorrow morning," Crystal said, stretching.

"Aw, man," Tera said, disappointed, "I was hoping there would be more."

The group agreed.

"I guess we head back to our dorms?" Reuben asked, seeing that many people were leaving. The professors had also left their booth.

"Yeah..," Sapphire said, looking around and then nodding her head.

"Let's go."

Crystal, Sapphire, Nathen, and Mara all left, team CRST behind them and team VLET leaving in the opposite direction.

"That was crazy!" Crystal said, flopping down on her bed. Sapphire sighed and nodded her agreement. She kicked her boots off and lay down, staring at the ceiling.

"I'm so tired," she sighed, wiggling her toes.

Crystal shrugged.

"I wanna cookie," she said.

"That's nice," Sapphire murmured, laying there.

Nathen and Mara had gone out for some coffee before coming back to the dorm, so Crystal and Sapphire sat alone in their dorm.

"Feeling better about the tournament?" Sapphire asked in the silence.

"Yeah," Crystal replied.

They lay there in silence.

Sapphire closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the air conditioner kicking on, rumbling slightly...the sound of running air…

Suddenly, in the calm silence, the loud sound of a bag crinkling snapped Sapphire's mind into reality.

Crystal dug into a bag of Potato Crispies, the aluminum and plastic bag crinkling and crackling far too loud in the quiet room. She tried to move her hand around quietly, seeking the last crumbs remaining that contained a lot of the chip's seasonings.

Sapphire sat up.

"Crystal," she hissed. The crunching of the bag stopped as she finished her statement.

"What?" Crystal whispered back. Sapphire sat there and thought about what had just happened. Then she burst out laughing, flopping back on her bed.

"What, Sapphy?" Crystal asked, sitting up.

"That was hilarious!" Sapphire giggled, laughing all the more. Crystal grinned and lay back down.

"Goodnight," she said, turning over.

"Goodnight, Crystal," Sapphire said, smiling and wiping the tears from her eyes.

_I was laughing that hard!_

She rolled over onto her stomach and stared out her window at the beautiful rose garden that lay behind the school. The night sky was filled with bright stars and the moon was glowing with bright white light. It's shattered appearance aroused a wandering thought to come into Sapphire's mind.

_Why does the moon look broken?_

The question had always been there, but never had it been answered.

She lay there and slowly drifted off to sleep, the light of the moon casting shadows into her dim room. The night light had a bluish tint that filled the room.

Sapphire's last thought before she fell into sleep was the sweet memory of her and Tyn after her and Crystal's fight.


	37. The Tournament- The Finals Pt 2

"This is the day," Nathen said as the four of them walked into the arena and found a seat.

"The winner of the entire Vytal Festival Tournament is going to be revealed today."

Mara squealed and sat back in her seat.

"It's all so exciting!" she squealed. Nathen smiled.

"I bet it's Pyrrha Nikos," Crystal said, plopping down into her seat, "She's the best of the best. Every school she's gone to; always the best of the best."

Sapphire shrugged.

"Perhaps," she said.

The seven contestants stood in a row, ready to be picked. Port and Oobleck were in their booth, talking to each other, since their mics weren't on yet.

The chaos and confusion of the night before seemed totally forgotten as the crowd cheered and held up signs. The happy, festive atmosphere had returned, and with it, the battles yet to come.

"Alright," Oobleck began, catching the audience's attention, "It is now time to begin the randomization process for our next fight!"

The boards began to flip and the crowd began to get excited.

"Go Carmen! Go Beacon!" team CRST shouted. Carmen nodded in their direction.

"Please be someone who we _know _will not ruin the whole finals round for today!" Crystal moaned, kicking her feet in her chair.

Sapphire shrugged.

The boards slowed down and crowd began to cheer louder.

"It looks like our first contender is..," Port said as the left side slowed to a stop. It landed on the picture of a girl with light orange hair, green eyes and a bow.

"Penny Polendina from Atlas!"

The whole left side of the arena roared with cheers.

"And her opponent will be..," Port continued, the right side slowing to the picture of a red haired student with green eyes and golden armor.

"Pyrrha Nikos from Beacon!"

The whole other side of the arena thundered as the other students left the stage, leaving the two selected students to fight.

The platform raised.

The lights turned on.

"Go Beacon!" It was team CRST, CMSN, and VLET who cheered in unison noticeable to most of the audience around them.

Strange enough, Pyrrha Nikos looked quite nervous, which was not the usual in what they had seen lately.

Penny Polendina, on the other hand, looked friendly and excited as she bounced on her feet and greeted her opponent.

"Fighters," Oobleck said as the two took positions, "Are you ready?"

The crowd cheered.

"Three! Two! One! Begin!"

Penny quickly pulled out what looked like about ten small swords, held together by strings, and began swinging them around, Pyrrha racing to her and blocking them with her spear.

"Woah," Nathen said, observing their speed, "They're pretty fast."

"My word!" Port said, "What a tremendous display from Miss Polendina!"

Pyrrha and Penny fought on, both showing very complex fighting skills.

"Go Beacon!" An area of people around the three-team group joined in with their booming cheer, making it even louder.

"How does she do that?" Mara gasped, watching as Pyrrha dodged several beams of energy produced by Penny's swords with flips, rolls, and back handsprings.

"Well trained, I guess," Nathen said, squinting to see the details of the fight.

"Oooh," Sapphire said, grimacing as Pyrrha was knocked roughly backwards.

She flipped up, though, and recovered immediately, only to have her shield and spear be knocked away by Penny's swords. She levitated them back to herself, as well as levitated one of Penny's swords away from her.

"Go Beacon!" At least a third of the audience roared the cheer this time.

Penny recoiled and held out all of her swords behind her, pointing them at Pyrrha. Pyrrha staggered backwards as if the swords were overwhelming.

"Don't lose courage!" Sapphire shouted.

Then, with a sweep of her arm, Penny threw all of her swords at her, Pyrrha looking very frightened. She put up her arms and then, with a shout, threw her arms back, releasing a translucent wave of black. It went threw Penny and blew back her swords, but when she stood up, Penny was in a crouched position, bent over as if she were caught in something and she too was glowing.

_Huh? _Sapphire said to herself, confused, _The only way Penny would be affected by Pyrrha's semblance was if she was made of metal...But that's not true. _

Then it happened.

The strings from Penny's swords caught around her arm and her body, as they were jerked backwards at a tremendous force. And then, with a jerk from Pyrrha's semblance, the strings amputated her. Her arms were cut off and her body was severed in two. With an electric noise, Penny fell apart, dismantled into pieces.

The crowd gasped and hushed.

"What?!" Crystal shouted, frustrated and shocked.

"She was a robot?!" Sapphire breathed, wondering what was going on.

The crowd began to mutter and whisper in horror and shock, the same atmosphere of chaos and horror returning.

"No!" Port said, angry and taken aback. Oobleck looked the same as he did; shocked and horrified.

Everyone stood there, silent and frightened. Pyrrha looked about as shocked and horrified as everyone else, her hands out, tears beginning to fill her eyes.

The platform slowly lowered and everyone watched it, seeing the pieces of Penny all together in a pile.

"Broadcast," Oobleck said, talking into his earpiece, "What are you doing? Kill the feed!" The microphone, not having been turned off, made his voice echo across the arena. The screens had been indeed not turned off and was still recording and playing the current scene. Everything was confusion.

Suddenly, the surveyor screens, every one of them, flashed deep red, the black image of a chess piece in the center appearing. A queen chess piece.

"This is not a tragedy," a smooth, female voice said in the speakers, "This was _not _an accident."

"What?" Sapphire whispered, confused.

"This is what happens when you hand over your trust," the voice continued, everyone listening and scratching their heads in confusion, "Your safety. Your _children_. To men who claim to be our guardians. But are, in reality…" The voice paused and then continued with a slightly angered tone.

"Nothing more than men. Our Academy's headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both."

General Ironwood, the headmaster of Atlas Academy, stood up and slammed his fists on the stand in front of him in anger. He was the leader of the Atlas military, as well as the Academy.

"They cling to this power in the name of peace," the voice continued, "And yet, what do we have here?"

General Ironwood walked away, his face clearly mad.

"One nation's attempt at a synthetic army," she continued, making everyone look at Penny's body, "Mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil."

Pyrrha put her hand to her mouth, tears making her eyes sparkly.

"What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference."

People looked around at each other, some from Mistral glancing warily at Atlas.

"And what, I am asking, is Ozpin teaching _his_ students?" the voice continued with a smooth strictness, "First a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy. Yet I have witnessed _neither_."

Sapphire felt a spike of anger. Who was this, anyway?

"Perhaps Ozpin felt as though defeating Atlas in the tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when Grimm invaded its streets."

Team CMSN exchanged glances.

"Or perhaps, this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting Kingdom with armed forces. Honestly? I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong. But I know that the existence of peace is fragile. And the leaders of our Kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves."

"What's going on?" Symon asked, rushing over. He had left to get something to eat as soon as the fight had started and had missed everything.

"I don't know," Crystal whispered.

"As someone who hails from Mistral," the woman's voice said, "I can assure you; the situation there is…" Her voice took a pause.

"Equally undesirable," she said.

"We have to do something!" Crystal hissed, standing up. Sapphire yanked her down, pressing her finger to her lips.

"Our Kingdoms are at the brink of war," the voice continued, "Yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark."

Sapphire and Tyn locked eyes, both equally confused.

"So I ask you," the voice said, as if wrapping up her whole speech, "When the first shots are fired…" She paused and everyone sat there in silence.

"Who do you think _you _will trust?"

* * *

**Hey guys. A thousand pardons for my absence of...well, however many days it's been. I know I said it wouldn't be so busy but I took my week for granted. Sorry!**


	38. The Fall of Beacon

The screens suddenly went static, and the microphones were turned back on. Then, a loud warning siren began blaring, ringing in everyone's ears and making their hearts race.

People began to panic, looking nervously around and standing up.

"What's going on!?" Mara cried, standing up.

"Alert," a female warning voice announced, "Incoming Grimm Attack."

All of the screens changed into an orange warning background.

"That answer your question?" Crystal yelled above the siren.

"Threat level: 9."

That was it for everybody. The whole crowd began screaming and running away to the exits to the arena, scattering like ants.

"Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner," the warning voice directed.

_So much for that, _Sapphire inwardly shot.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please!" General Ironwood said in a calm voice, suddenly in the professor's booth. He spoke into the microphone, his voice echoing across the arena.

"There is no need for panic."

Just then, the piercing screech of a Nevermore sounded above them.

Sapphire looked up and saw a Nevermore standing on top of the arena's invisible barrier that served as a roof. It stomped its feet and pecked at it, making blue shockwaves come off of it with each hit.

"Yeah, no need for panic!" Crystal yelled sarcastically, getting up from her seat.

"We need to get out of here!" Lucky cried, searching frantically for a way to exit.

"What are we going to do?!" Reuben asked, panicked. The Nevermore continued to smash, stomp, and peck at the barrier, making them feel less and less safe.

"We're gonna do what we're gonna do!" Carmen grunted, getting up and running to the end of the stand. He jumped over it and jumped down them, row by row until he reached the floor.

"Warning:" the warning voice said again, "Safety barriers failing."

"Let's go!" Crystal shouted. She ran and jumped off of the stand, letting herself fall freely from the seats and then pulled out her sword, swung it around, and then landed with it, slamming it into the floor and flipping off of it. She landed on her feet and then freed her sword from the floor.

"C'mon, guys!" Crystal called, waving at them.

"Our weapons are in our lockers!" Sapphire called back.

"Then get 'em!" Crystal shouted back.

"Forget it!" Mara said, stepping onto the stand and spreading out her wings, "Get on!"

Sapphire and Nathen exchanged glances and shrugged.

Nathen and Sapphire both held onto her shoulders, leaning on her back. Then she jumped off, flapping her wings and floating down.

"Jump off!" Mara ordered as they neared the ground. Their falling speed had been largely decreased from Mara's wings, but it was still faster than wanted.

Nathen jumped off, flipped, and landed in a crouched position. Sapphire leaped off and landed in a similar way as Nathen.

Then Mara landed with a beat of her wings, landing safely on her feet. The rest of team CRST jumped their way down, Symon reaching the floor first. The arena was nearly empty now, a few students still sitting and Pyrrha Nikos, who stood in shock in the center of the arena.

"C'mon!"

"What about team VL-" Sapphire began, stopping when she saw that they were nowhere to be found.

"_COME ON_!" Crystal shouted, racing towards the entrance. Team CMSN and CRST followed, frightened. The last thing they saw before they left was not a good one.

The Nevermore cawed again, loudly, and then flew up, up, up. Then, it dove down, shattering through the barrier and slamming onto the ground. A gust of wind blew back Pyrrha, who was still standing in the middle of the ring, and another guy who was running at her.

Then the arena was left behind them and they were running away towards the docs, where hundreds of students were, crowding into large Atlas ships, military calmly instructing them in.

"We need to get into the ships!" Mara said, clearly finding that it was the right choice. Team CRST agreed and followed her and Nathen to the ships.

"No!" Crystal said, running to the edge of the doc, "We need to fight!"

"What's the point, Crystal," Sapphire asked, standing next to Crystal. They could see clearly from the doc, the state of the city of Vale below. Hundreds of Grimm were running around, Altas military struggling to fight them. Terrified people rushed around, panicked and unsure of where to go. Buildings were destroyed and everything was a mess.

It looked like a Grimm infested, ruined town rather than the Kingdom of Vale.

"There are far too many. There's no point," she said sadly. "We should just get back to Vacuo or something!"

Crystal balled her hands into fists.

"Honor," she said, turning around, "Honor. That woman on the speaker said it herself. Us huntsmen and huntresses need to carry ourselves with honor, not cowardness."

"Crystal!" Sapphire shouted above the screams of the people still running from the arena, "There's honor, and there's foolishness. There is also pride, and the greed for praise, to be noted as a great person."

Crystal, still holding her sword, stood up straight.

"Are you saying I want to fight for something like that?" she asked, the wind blowing her ponytail and the two stray locks of hair on both sides of her face to the side. Sapphire shook her head.

"Yes!" she blurted out, "Just by the circumstance and how you act on a regular basis...Everything! You are always trying to uphold your reputation and you are so proud of yourself that you never seem to see past to what it may cost you, and other people! Being a huntress is not for praise, it's for protecting the innocent, those who can't protect themselves and restoring balance to the world!"

Crystal shook her head.

"I know that," she spat, looking down.

"But do you do it?" Sapphire asked. The two girls stood there looking at each other amidst the chaos of the people running around and screaming.

"Sapphire! Crystal!" Nathen yelled from a ship, "Hurry up!"

Sapphire looked at Nathen and then nodded.

"C'mon, Crystal," she said, urging her forward, "We need to get out of here!"

"But..," Crystal began, hesitating whether or not she wanted to go with her or not.

"Let's go!" Sapphire shouted yanking Crystal's arm.

"Fine!" Crystal grunted, pulling Sapphire's arm away and running towards the ship with Sapphire. Just as they were nearing it, a few other ships, smaller ones, flew over. Their doors opened and several Grimm were let out onto the docs. They roared and started running around, making the groups of students and viewers flee and scatter. The Atlas guards began shooting at the Grimm while others tried to get more people into the ships.

Nathen and Mara, standing inside a crowded ship, saw the Grimm and saw that Sapphire and Crystal were running towards them.

"Well this is a problem!" Crystal howled, turning around and slicing an Ursa's head off. It had been only seconds away from clobbering her.

"We need to get them away from the ships!" Sapphire shouted, shooting an ice capsule at a pack nearing another ship and exploding them into spikes of ice.

"On it!" Crystal called, stabbing a Beowolf through and then slicing upwards, cutting it's torso in half.

"Guys!" Nathen shouted, pushing through the people crowded in the ship, "Guys!"

Mara spread her wings out, making several people around her move away as much as they could, then she bolted towards Nathen, only to be caught in another crowd.

Crystal and Sapphire, aided by the Atlas guards, managed to slay many of the Grimm, but then, after they stopped by each other to catch their breath, noticed the ship that Mara and Nathen were trying to get off of was leaving.

"No!" Crystal shouted, rushing towards it, "Come back!"

"Crystal, wait!" Sapphire called, following her cousin.

The ship was just leaving the doc, feet away from the edge. Crystal rushed to it, jumped off of the edge, and stabbed her sword into the bottom of the ship's head, hanging off of the hilt. She dangled there, Sapphire frightened of what Crystal might try to do. Crystal took a deep breath, sweat dripping down her face as her arms tired from holding onto her sword and the pressure of the whole thing weighed on her. The wind from the ship as it gained momentum blew in her face, cooling her down, but making it harder for her to hold on.

Sapphire, panicked and alone on the doc, quickly nocked one of the few rope arrows she had remaining from her old quiver, aiming it near the door of the ship and then letting it fly. It embedded into the metal as the ship blasted off and jerked Sapphire towards it.

"Augh!" she cried, frighted as she hung, blowing in the wind, dangling thousands of feet above the ground.

Crystal seemed about as stuck as she was, her sword not very deep into the ship's metal. Her sword go looser and looser as the wind blew harder and harder. Then, it was yanked free by Crystal, who had come up with a plan. She was blown back, her sword in her hands, and flew backwards, almost scraping the ship's side with her body. She licked her lips and dug her sword into the ship's side, slowing herself down and leaving a gash in its side. Now she was hanging on much closer ot Sapphire, who was pulling herself up, climbing with her rope attached to an arrow. Crystal looked up and saw that her arrow was pulling loose.

"Sapphy!" Crystal shouted, "Your arrow's about to go out!"

Sapphire nodded and continued climbing. When she had climbed to the same spot as Crystal, she cut the rope, turning her bow into her boomerang and stabbing it into the side of the ship.

"Now what?!" Sapphire yelled, the wind blowing everything around.

"Not sure!" Crystal answered. "We should get to the top!"

"Will do!" Sapphire called.

She swung off from her blade, yanking it out and letting the wind blow her back, then dug her boomerang into the wing, flipping and landing on top of it. She stood up and looked forward, the wind blowing her hair back. Soon enough, Crystal appeared beside her, using a similar strategy.

"We need to get inside," Sapphire said, pointing to a door in the floor. Crystal shrugged.

"In we go," Sapphire said, running towards it. She bent down, searching for a handle, a latch, anything, but failed to find one.

"Let me handle it," Crystal said, walking over to it.

"We've lost them!" Mara cried, hugging onto Nathen and sobbing, "And the tournament is ruined and now Vale's begin attacked! It's over!"

Nathen just hugged her, petting her hair.

"At least everyone's okay," he said, "At least I think."

"But now we have no idea where Sapphire and Crystal are!" Mara moaned, "Our team is forever separated!"

"Not forever, forever," Nathen said slowly, "We could just call them."

Mara stopped crying and nodded.

"Sorry I didn't think about that..," she mumbled, slightly embarrassed.

She pulled out her scroll, typed in the password, and opened up her contacts.

"Wait," Nathen said, pointing at her screen, "My name is Nathen with a heart emoji next to it?"

Mara's cheeks glowed red and she turned around, hiding her scroll from his view.

"Don't look at other peoples scroll screens," she shot back. Nathen chuckled.

Suddenly, there was a loud banging sound and the tip of a blade appeared in the ceiling. It drew back and then anoth bang sounded, a square of the ceiling falling off and a person jumping into the ship.

"Eeek!" a girl cried, "Evil bandit!"

"I'm not a bandit!" came Crystal's voice as she stood up, dusting herself off.

"Crystal!" Nathen shouted, pushing towards her, "How?"

"Crystal!" Mara cried, relieved, "Where's Sapphire?"

Just then, Sapphire jumped into the ship, landing clumsily on her feet.

"Sapphire!" Mara exclaimed, racing towards her.

Some of the people in the ship moved aside to let Mara through to her teammates.

She hugged both of them tightly, a teardrop rolling down her face.

"I was afraid we were separated!" Mara cried, "But now you're here!"

Crystal smiled. Sapphire nodded.

"A teammate never leaves her team behind," Sapphire said quietly.

"And neither does the leader," Crystal added.

Nathen nodded in agreement.

"At least we are all back together," Nathen said softly.

Then they all did a group hug, everyone around them smiling slightly.

"I can't believe this is all happening," Mara whispered, the group dissembling. Nathen sighed and shook his head.

"Me either," he said soberly.

Sapphire looked out the window.

The dark night sky had billows of smoke trailing out into it, silhouetted against the glowing light of the shattered moon, which looked very large. The small glowing light a fire was seen here and there, scattered in various places across her view. The dark shapes of people and Grimm moved like shadows on the ground, running around and creating chaos. Everything was a mess and Sapphire felt helpless. Like she was supposed to do something.

She sighed and looked back at her team, who looked equally helpless.

"Where is this ship even going?" Sapphire asked, not knowing what to say. Her mind felt exhausted and nothing made sense anymore.

Nathen shrugged.

"I dunno," he said simply.

Mara looked at the floor, tears rolling down her cheeks. Crystal stood there with a look that reminded Sapphire of Heather.

The team stood there, saying nothing and not even really looking at each other. Crystal walked slowly away, closer to the window, to watch as Beacon Academy came into view. A massive dragon-like beast was circling it and many other Grimm were running around in and out of the school, destroying and scattering things.

A tired expression was on Crystal's face as she watched the school she had been training in for not quite a year be destroyed right before her eyes. The school she had trained and prepared for. Gone.

Sapphire pulled out her scroll and opened up her contacts, scrolling through them and looking for the right picture. Then the silly picture of Misty, her fingers up in a peace sign and her tongue out with a wink, showed up. Sapphire pressed it and then hit the green call button, hoping her sister would pick up.

She held her scroll up to her ear and waited for someone to pick up.

Four rings. Five rings, Six rings.

"Hello?"

"I'll be right back," Sapphire said quietly to Mara and Nathen as she walked away to a corner.

"Hey, Misty," Sapphire said with a sigh.

"Hey!" Misty answered brightly, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Sapphire said, looking around, "Are you?"

"I'll be okay," Misty replied, her voice hesitant, "Where're ya at?"

"I'm currently on an Atlas ship headed to…" Sapphire paused and looked around.

"I'm not sure, actually," she said, "Are you sure you're okay?"

Misty paused.

"Well..," she began slowly, "Let's just say we lost Chartreuse...and we don't know where Amber is."

"Lost?" Sapphire echoed, "Lost as in, you can't find her? Or lost as in…"

"The latter," Misty answered quietly. Sapphire felt her fist ball up.

"Are you okay?" she asked, concern in her voice.

"Well," Misty said, her voice strangely bright, considering the circumstances, "My aura's down. I have a stab in my side that's bleeding really bad. Ember's currently laying unconscious next to me, and I'm laying near the bottom of Beacon Academy, just on the second floor. I can see some ships from here."

Sapphire's eyes widened.

"What?!" she blurted, catching the attention of everyone around her, "Are you alright? Are there Grimm by you? What...Huh?!"

Misty laughed over the scroll.

"Yeah," she said as if in a good mood, "Lots of 'em. But don't worry. I'm pretending I'm pretty happy right now. Blocking out the fear and worry. It's actually working pretty well right now. Kinda glad Ember's out. The bad news: I think I might be dying."

Sapphire gasped.

"What?!" she shouted, "How are you so calm?! I can't let you die! Please don't!"

Sapphire sank to her knees, the drama and fear of everything weighing on her.

"Don't...don't. Just please, don't!" she sobbed, tears running down her face. The people around her looked a mix of sad, confused, sympathetic, and none-caring.

"You okay?" Misty asked. Sapphire just kept on crying.

"I have to help you!" she said, suddenly standing up.

"Same to you," Misty replied, "Cause I think that dragon Grimm thingy might smash into one of the ships. Not sure if it's yours, though. Are you close to a huge dragon-wyvern thingy?"

Sapphire looked at the window. Sure enough, the big black body of the huge Grimm was in clear sight, the wing tips only feet away.

"Oh my gosh, no!" Sapphire yelled, rushing to the window, ignorant of the people she was accidently pushing over.

"That things is about to-" Crystal was cut off by a loud sound as the dragon's tail smashed into the ship's head.

"Yeah," Misty said, sounding slightly drowsy, "It's tail just hit that ships head, if that helps any."

"Yeah," Sapphire shouted through all the screams of the people, "That was us!"

"We're going down!" someone shrieked.

A repeat of what had happened back at the arena began, only there was nowhere to escape to. The horrible feeling of her stomach dropping made Sapphire panic.

"What do we do?!" Mara screamed from the other side of the ship.

"We're gonna die!" someone sobbed.

"No!" Crystal shouted, running forwards, "We're not!"

She ran to the ship's head, which was completely smashed, smoke pouring out of different parts of it and electricity zapping here and there, and looked out. The ship was falling fast, the smoke blowing behind her into the rest of the ship, and nearing the ground with horrible speed. Crystal sucked in a deep breath and then ran back, holding out her sword.

"Sapphy!" she shouted, running to the ship's side, "Tell everyone to get ready to jump!"

Then, with a burst of aura and several slices and hits, she sliced a huge square of the metal off the ship's side, creating an large opening, which wind immediately began to blow widly through. Below, she could see the courtyard of the school, the two large pools on either side, and the broken statue of the huntsman and huntress standing on top of a defeated Grimm, all coming nearer.

"Does _anybody _have a water or air semblance or something?!" Crystal shouted, looking behind her.

A boy with an eyepatch and freckles behind her hesitated.

"Quick!"

"I can control wind!" he blurted. Crystal nodded.

"Do something!"

"And I can levitate!" a girl with blond hair wearing a black outfit added, running over.

"Great!" Crystal shouted, "Do something! Now!"

"Ivory!" the blond girl yelled, another girl with white hair bursting through the crowd beside the blond one.

"On it, Evelyn!" she answered.

The boy with the eyepatch, Ivory, and Evelyn all stood on the edge of the entrance that Crystal had made, waiting for the ground to get just a little closer…

"Now, Cavi!" Evelyn shouted, raising her arms up in a cross shape. The boy, Cavi, took a deep breath and threw his arms out, exhaling as he did. A strong wave of wind shot out from around him, flying out of the entrance. At the same time as Cavi, Evelyn's hands began to glow black, as did the ship around them. Then, Ivory let out a scream as, using all her energy and aura, used her semblance. All of the water from both Beacon ponds went up in a huge wave, coming towards the ship. Evelyn's whole body was already drenched in sweat by the time the ship crashed, her arms and fingers shaking violently as she tried as hard as she possibly could to hold the ship, lowering its momentum some.

"Everybody jump!" Crystal hollered, bracing herself.

The huge burst of wind, the waves of water, and Evelyn's attempt at holding the ship all resulted in a crazy landing.

The water caught the people falling from the ship, the wind blew back the ship as it exploded, and three students went unconscious from over exertion.

For Sapphire, she was falling, then there was a boom, and then she was completely immersed in cold water, every noise muffled and strange. Then she swam back up and took a deep breath, shaking her wet hair from her face.

Everyone was half swimming-half standing in a pool of water, a ring of fire circling it and chunks and pieces of the ship scattered around them, some covered by the water. The reflection of the flames dancing on the water and casting shadows. The outlines of Beacon Academy's main tower were not too far away, nor was the sight of the wyvern circling it.

"Misty!" Sapphire suddenly shouted, splashing away towards the ring of fire that circled their little pool.

"Sapphy!" Crystal called, wading after her, "Where are you going?"

Sapphire ran through the fire, the moisture covering her body heating up upon contact with the flames, but not burning her skin, thanks to her aura and the water dripping off of her.

Her heart was beating wildly in her chest as thought of Misty began to float around in her head. She could think of nothing else as she ran and dodged Grimm, unconsciously slicing and shooting them as she rushed by them.

First she was sprinting, then running, then stumbling, then tripping, and then crawling towards Beacon Academy, now sitting breathless in front of two very broken doors that lead inside the school, the glass shattered and the metal cracked.

An Ursa and four Beowolfs stood inside of the doors, sniffing around. Sapphire, her eyes wide and her face looking like a madwoman's, screamed and rushed at them, her boomerang in pistol form. She shot at them, sliced at them, and hammered at them, changing her weapons forms, until the Grimm were nothing more than a black mist.

Sapphire stood there panting and delirious, dripping wet and holding her boomerang. Then she rushed up the stairs, re energized by the fight, and eager to get to her sister. She dashed through hallways and raced up stairs, destroying any Grimm that even came near her as she hurried away in a state of desperate madness.

It was only a minute later than her encounter with the five Grimm at the door did she arrive on the second floor, searching wildly for her sister. In her hastyness, she tripped over someone's body and fell onto the floor, skidding to a halt. Sapphire lay there for a while, slowing coming back to herself and realizing that she was laying in something warm...wet...slippery, and...red!

"Misty!" Sapphire shrieked, sitting upright and shaking her head.

Indeed, laying right in front of her, slumped against a wall, was Misty. Her side was torn open, blood still running out of it, leading into a pool of blood, which Sapphire had fallen into and covered herself in. Misty's face was very pale, her eyes closed and one of her hands half holding her gun. It was slipping from her fingers.

"Misty!" Sapphire cried, shaking her with bloody hands. Misty's eyes shot open and immediately filled with tears.

"Sapphire," she said weakly, "You found me."

"Yes, Misty," Sapphire said, tears pouring down her face, "And I'm not gonna let you die."

"Thanks, sis," Misty said softly, a sight smirk appearing on her pale face.

"I wouldn't let you go, either."

Sapphire ripped off the deep purple sash tied around her torso and wrapped it tightly around Misty's side as neatly as she could.

"Thanks for coming all the way from your ship to get me," Misty said, wincing as Sapphire bandaged her wound, "That was your ticket home."

"No," Sapphire said, tears still falling down her face, "The dragon crashed it, remember? We crash landed, but we're all okay."

Misty smiled drowsily.

"Thanks," she said.

"Now I'm gonna need you to stay with me, okay?" Sapphire said, urgently shaking Misty awake again, "Stay with me."

Misty fought to keep her eyes open.

"I'm trying, Sapph," she said slowly.

"Sapphy!" Crystal shouted, skidding to a halt beside her and Misty.

"Are you okay?!" she asked, horrified at the blood covering her friend.

"This blood isn't mine," Sapphire said gravely, trying too pick up Misty, but failing. Crystal walked over to the other side of Misty and grabbed her arms.

"Take her by the legs," Crystal ordered, "We'll carry her out."

Ember groaned and rolled over, her eyes slowly opening. She suddenly sat bolt upright and panted, frightened and confused.

"Misty!" she cried, recalling what had happened earlier, "Look out!"

Crystal and Sapphire both stared at her. Ember flushed.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I just...what happened?"

"I don't know," Sapphire said quickly, taking hold of Misty's legs, "But you-we need to get out of here!"

Ember nodded dutifully and scrambled to her feet, grabbing her weapon.

"I'll follow you!" she said, walking by them.

"Let's go, Sapphy," Crystal said.

"What about all the Grimm out there?" Sapphire asked, panicking. Crystal grinned.

"Killed 'em," she said smugly, lifting Misty, "Now lift!"

"Mara!"

Nathen watched helplessly as the Ursa picked her up with its sharp claws and threw her to the ground, rocks and dirt flying up everywhere.

"Get away from her!" he shouted, tearing it up to shreds with his scourge. Mara sat slowly up, covered in dirt and scrapes, her aura broke.

"Stay back!" Nathen ordered as he began the difficult task of shooting Grimm through and tearing them to shreds.

_Adrenaline is magic, _Nathen said to himself as he shot his scourge and raked it against an Ursa's hide, leaving a nasty claw mark. He destroyed the pack of Grimm, using pure manly strength and his strong shooting scourge.

Mara gasped.

"Nathen!" she choked, "L-look out!"

A massive Ursa-like Grimm stood up on its hind legs and then thumped down, heaving its claw at Nathen. Mara leaped up with a beat of her wings and...got right in the way of where Nathen _had _been.

"No!"

The claw smashed into Mara, sending her flying backwards so hard, she fell through several windows, shattering them and gaining several cuts, and then slammed through a wall and landed roughly on a floor...or a rocky ledge...or some sand...or a hard surface of some sort, but Mara couldn't tell. The pain of everything she hit had exploded onto her body and left her feeling numb as soon as she had landed.

She lay there, her whole world melting into darkness, but she saw one thing before she slipped away into unconsciousness.

Nathen's tall form in the distance, on his knees and weeping in front of a dissolving Grimm's body.

* * *

**Sadness...By the way, this whole story, after the Fall of Beacon is over, is one volume. So basically, the equivalent of RWBY Volumes 1-3 is my CMSN volume 1...cuz it's a story, not a show. Volume 2 will be a separate story (document)**

**For those of you who are reading my other Fic, A Rosegarden Seedling, ****chapter 9 is nearly done!**


	39. One Final Stand

"Misty!" Sapphire shouted, slapping her sister's face, "Stay with me!"

"We're losing her," Crystal said through gritted teeth.

The three girls, Sapphire, Crystal, and Ember, rushed through the chaotic streets, carrying Misty, who was slowly slipping away into unconsciousness.

Suddenly, the sounds of a close ship approaching was heard. The three girls all looked behind them and saw a large Atlesian ship, it's windows bright red, was speeding towards them, low enough to smash into their heads and leave them forever gone. They gasped and quickly ducked, just low enough so that it barely missed them. It crashed into a tall building several meters away.

"What in Remnant?!" Ember screamed as the wind from the ship whipped around their hair and clothes.

"Please!" Sapphire shouted, hoping to catch someone's attention, "We need help!"

"No one's gonna come, Sapphy!" Crystal grunted, turning to a tree and lowering Misty down, "Everything's gone crazy."

Indeed, it seemed that all of Atlas had gone rogue and started shooting not at Grimm, but instead at people and students. The screens of their faces were also bright red, like the ships, and the screen with the chess piece...

Sapphire lowered Misty down and sighed, tears running down her face.

"I just..," she began, "Don't know what to do."

She sat down and began to weep, her shoulders shaking with each sob. Crystal's face softened and she sat down next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I just can't go on!" Sapphire cried, hugging Misty tightly, "I can't!"

Crystal slapped Sapphire across the face.

"No!" she shouted, "You've got to stop with that! You _can _keep going on, and you will. So stop doubting it and get moving! If you don't want your sister to die, then I _suggest_ we get out of here and find some help! The help isn't going to find us!"

Sapphire locked eyes with Crystal and then looked back at Misty's pale face.

"Alright," she whispered.

The two girls picked up Misty again and continued on, Ember following and Grimm rushing past, not noticing them as they remained perfectly calm. Looks of determination were fixed on their faces as they marched through the streets, though, deep inside, Sapphire felt a loss of some sort. Like a part of her was being left behind with Beacon as she walked further and further away from it.

"Help us!" a female voice screamed. Crystal, jerked her head in the direction of the noise.

A woman was clutching a baby and hugging a small child at the same time, a Grimm running towards them and another behind them, about to clobber her.

Crystal dropped Misty and raced forward, her sword out, and practically diced the first Grimm into pieces. The second she ended with a clean slice of its head. The rest of the Grimm she killed were hidden behind pillars and buildings, eager after the scent of anger.

Ember rushed eagerly towards Crystal, pulling out her whip and joining her in the vicious fight against the crazy ravaging Grimm.

Sapphire, angry that Crystal had abandoned her, but eager for her to help the woman, picked up Misty and began dragging her towards a small group of people hiding in an alleyway.

"Help us, please!" Sapphire cried, rushing to them. They pulled her into the alleyway and dragged Misty in as well.

"Stay put!" a burly looking man whispered to her. He pulled out a scroll, dialed something on it, and walked away.

Sapphire looked around at the people in the alleyway. A streetlight was illuminating part of it, but most of it was shadowy and sketchy. Half of them looked like normal citizens; the other half looked like huntsmen and huntresses, battered up and tired.

"It's okay," a girl with purple hair said, "Jon's callin' Ginger over." The girl had a strong country accent.

"Who's Jon?" Sapphire asked. The girl pointed to the burly guy talking on his scroll.

"Ginger has a ship and she's comin'," the girl continued. She walked over to Misty and looked her over.

"Who this be?" she asked.

"Oh," said Sapphire, who had begun to zone out, "My sister."

The girl nodded.

"I'm Tulip," she said, shaking Sapphire's still-bloody hand.

"I'm Sapphire," she answered.

"Nice of you ta still be here in a time like this," Tulip said. Her hair was covering half of one eye, in a stylish way.

"Yeah," Sapphire said slowly, wondering what was real anymore.

"C'mon, Tu-Tu," a tall muscular man said, standing up, "We need ta fight. At least one last time."

"But Aaron!" Tulip said, sounding exasperated, "Why? We should jest wait for-"

"No," Aaron said, cutting her off, "Ginger'll come. We just need to do one last thing before this is all over."

He pulled out a riffle of some sort and held it above his shoulder.

"We need to take one final stand."

The people in the alleyway nodded, including Sapphire, a new determination gripping her.

With a triumphant shout, the huntsmen and huntresses in the alleyway pushed up their fists and weapons into the air and raced forward to fight.

"Go!" Jon shouted, loading his rifle and shooting three heavy shots at a Beowolf. One hit its head, another its feet, and another, its middle.

Crystal slashed her sword through the Grimm that ran and jumped at her, ending them in seconds.

"Die!" she shrieked as she fought on, wild and mad. Sapphire, perched on top of a nearby building, was picking off Grimm one by one with her arrows, some hitting multiple targets when she used fire, ice, or lightning.

But it just didn't seem to be enough.  
"No!" Sapphire shouted in frustration.

"Here!" Crystal called, grabbing a gray case off of the ground and tossing it up to Sapphire. She caught it and opened it, only to find several dust crystals.

"Huh?" she asked out loud. But her mind, tired as it was, gave her an idea. She pulled out a dust crystal, and then nocked it in her bow, wondering how it was even working. The dust crystals were about the size of her capsules; slightly larger. But for whatever reason, it shot almost as well as one.

Sapphire began firing rounds of dust crystals, sparks of it flying all around her as she emptied the case and made bursts of ice, fire, lightning, stone, and even wind explode onto her enemies.

Everyone else fought on, valiantly and with great skill and strength, killing the Grimm in large numbers.

"Look out!" Tulip shrieked, pointing upwards. Everyone averted their attention to what Tulip was pointing at.

A large building was collapsing, right over where the group was fighting.

"Out of the way!" Jon shouted, rushing away.

Sapphire ran away towards Misty, where everyone else was fleeing.

Crystal raced away to the opposite direction.

"Crystal!" Sapphire screamed, dragging Misty away with Aaron's help, "What are you doing?! Come back!"

But it was too late. The building was nearly to the ground.

"I'll be in Signal!" Sapphire shrieked at the top of her lungs.

And that was the last thing Sapphire saw of Crystal when the building crashed onto the ground, blowing everyone back and sending out a wave of dust and debris.

Sapphire and the alleyway group smacked into some buildings.

Crystal was blown all the way back to the entrance to Beacon Academy.

"Crystal!" Sapphire cried, not knowing what to do. It seemed her while world was falling apart. Misty was dying, in her very arms; Crystal had just been separated from them; Mara and Nathen were who-knows-where, and Beacon was crumbling all around them.

"I can't!" she sobbed, clutching Misty close, "I just can't!"

The fire, the Grimm, the screams, the explosions, the ships, the evil...It was all too much for her now. She just felt like giving up and dying.

Just then, a burst of wind came, blowing some of the Grimm back and making the people fall over. A large white ship hovered down, the air blowing out from under it blowing rocks and dust around.

Ginger had arrived.

Sapphire sat leaned up against the ship's wall, staring out the window. The remains of Beacon were far in the distance now, what were large, roaring flames, now only visible as tiny flickers. Sapphire's eyes filled with tears as she remembered what that morning had been. It had started all cheerful and sunny, excitement for the singles round filling her with glee. The singles round!

The tournament and the Vytal festival felt so far away, even though it had only been a simple few hours since then.

The tournament...Beacon...The Vytal Festival. It had all been so much and so exciting, but now it was gone. Literally destroyed.

Misty moaned and stirred beside her. Sapphire looked helplessly at her injured older sister.

"I'm sorry, Misty," she whispered.

"Hey," Sapphire said quietly, beaconing Tulip, "Where's this ship headed?"

"Where do ya need to be?" Tulip asked, her country accent strong.

"Uh," Sapphire began, "Signal."

"Then we can get ya there, hun," she said.

"I can't believe this just happened..," Sapphire said, tears filling her eyes.

"Nobody can," Tulip muttered, sounding as defeated as Sapphire felt.

Sapphire sighed and stared sadly out the window.

Then she suddenly remembered that she had lost her scroll. When the ship had crashed.

"No," she moaned, putting her head in her hands, "Why?"

"What is it?" Tulip asked, wiping her hair from her eye.

"My scroll," Sapphire mumbled, "It's gone."

"I aint have a scroll for four years," Tulip replied, shaking her head.

"I lost it the very week I got it. Not a very responsible person I am."

Sapphire attempted a smile, but then turned away, looking into the deep night.

The horror of the day's events slowly melted away, leaving behind an empty sad feeling.

"Goodbye, Beacon," Sapphire whispered, watching the tiny image of the Academy in the distance be blocked out by a dark cloud.

* * *

**Oh, so sad! I was writing this while listening to the Fall of Beacon score. It was very fun to write. **

**Thanks for reading and tune in for more chapters!**


	40. Epilogue: Ruins

Mara slowly opened her eyes, no light to blind them. An eerie silence was settled all around her, the sound of still air audible. She sat up slowly, pain erupting on several parts of her body, but ignoring it. She looked around, her mind in a haze of confusion and drowsiness.

The whole word around her was a dusty, broken, and hollow place, broken buildings, fallen lampposts, cracked streets…

Mara was sitting in ruins. The ruins of Beacon.

A heavy tan fog hung like a curtain in the distance, making buildings and hills shadows. She was quite a distance up, sitting on a stone ledge protruding from a cliff just behind Beacon's main tower, giving her a good view of the whole place.

She sat there in the foggy silence, her head hazy and clouded. She saw Charionosenshi still in her hand from when she had been thrown by the Grimm...Her mind jerked to the present.

"Nathen!" she gasped, her eyes widening. Flashbacks of the fiery night, the Grimm running around, the chaos, and then Nathen sobbing in front of the dead Grimm went through her head and tears began to fill her eyes.

"Nathen!" she screamed, her voice echoing across the barren ruins, "Nathen!"

Her screams could pass for haunting ones, for they echoed and sounded just like the kind you would hear in the basement of a haunted house at midnight.

A torrent of tears poured down her face as she sat on her knees, weeping and screaming his name as memories of him filled her head.

"You said you wouldn't leave me unless you died!" Mara sobbed, her hair falling all in her face, "So what does it mean now?!"

Her clothes were torn and ripped along with her skin in several places, making her clothes considerably immodest and giving her the look of a shredded piece of paper.

She saw again the spot where Nathen had been, weeping in front of the the Grimm. Staggering to her feet and clutching her weapon, she rushed off the side of the ledge, spreading her cut wings and then half falling-half gliding, flew to that spot, crashing haphazardly onto the ground. She didn't care about the pain of the impact, the feeling numb and sickening.

She tried to pull herself to her feet, but only collapsed as soon as she had. She crawled wildy around, searching frantically for her friend. Then she found one item that made her whole world shatter completely.

Nathen's silver shoulder blade.

"Nathen!" she screamed, her voice like a knife, "Nathen!"

She sat there sobbing and screaming all alone in the foggy ruins of Beacon, clutching Nathen's shoulder blade.

"Don't go..," she murmured, touching her forehead to the shoulder blade's dusty surface, tears washing the dust away, "I love you. Don't leave me..,"

**END OF PART ONE**

* * *

**Oh my gosh, the feeeeeeellllsss!**

**This has been the conclusion to CMSN Volume 1. Volume 2 will be posted chapter by chapter in a new separate document. **

**Thank you so much, all of you who have been here since the start of this story! (At least, as I've been posting it on here.)**

**A special thanks to dtill539, RelightTheTorch, Silver Xanos, and Delirious Dingo for giving me their feedback and (mostly and ****hopefully) been reading this as it has been coming out.**

**Thank you for reading and have an excellent day!**


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